The Trials And Tribulations Of Valentine's Day
by QBMaja
Summary: This is for the TBBT Fan Forums "Valentine's Day Challenge": Pasadena's favorite couples celebrate the day of love. Will everything go as planned?
1. Friday, February the 13th (Part One)

**Author's Note: **This is for the TBBT Fan Forums "Valentine's Day Challenge".

This is my first story that includes all of the characters. I hope, I do them all justice. Also, I'm not very good in writing fluff either, but since it's a story about the celebration of love, I tried to be as fluffy as I possibly could be. It's maybe (probably) too much now, but hey! It's Valentine's Day! Right? I hope, you'll enjoy this story.

PS: English is not my native language, so I apologize for the mistakes.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, The WB, etc. own everything.

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><p><strong>FRIDAY, February the 13th (Part One)<strong>

_Pasadena, Emily's apartment, 8.03 AM_

Raj waited impatiently for his girlfriend to get ready to leave, and he just couldn't get rid of the feeling, that this weekend won't fulfill the promise of being the celebration of love that he hoped their first Valentine's Day would be. When Emily called him yesterday forenoon, and told him that she won a trip to Aspen, he was overjoyed for a few happy hours. What she didn't tell him was, that the trip was for four. She also missed to tell him, whom she planned to ask to accompany them. When they spoke again in the evening, he couldn't believe his ears. And since then he just couldn't stop complaining, even though he was very aware, that it slowly but surely got on Emily's nerves. Nevertheless, as he stood there in the living room, he found himself saying for the umpteenth time:

"I just wanted this weekend to be perfect, you know. It's our first Valentine's Day! And then we got so lucky with this trip to Aspen. ASPEN, Emily! And what do you do?! You ask _Amy_ to join us! How could you?!" Raj was simply flabbergasted, that a gift like that _(a trip to Aspen!)_, could've been ruined by his own sweet honeybee.

"Why? I thought you like Amy?" She asked him, not for the first time since yesterday evening.

"I do! And I would've taken her with us _happily_, would she come alone. But she will bring _him_ with her!"

"Sheldon? But he's your friend. If he would really be that insufferable, you wouldn't spend so much time with him." Emily didn't believe that he was really serious. He probably just wanted them to be alone, and was mad that she asked Amy without checking first, if he would be okay with it. Maybe she should have, she thought. Then again, she had such a fun time with Amy, that she just asked her spontaneous.

"Well, yes. Of course he's my friend. But he's also the world's worst romance killer! He will ruin everything! I'm telling you, he sucks the light out of everything that enlightens our precious lifes!" Raj was positively agitated now, when he thought about all the things, that he planned to do with his lovely and sexy girlfriend. All of which most likely will be ruined by Sheldon. The Valentine's Day Grinch.

"Nah. I don't believe that. He and Amy seem to be really happy. Why would he ruin Valentine's Day for her? She was really excited when I asked her." Emily replied.

Awww, Raj thought, she's so innocent, it's heartwarming. She just didn't have to deal with Dr. Sheldon Cooper for so many years like he and the others had. But she'll find out this weekend, that's for sure, he thought bitterly. "Oh Emily! My sweet, clueless Emily. He looks normal, he can even act normal... At times... But believe me, he is not normal. He despises everything nice and beautiful. He's the romance devil!"

As much as she tried, she couldn't stop her eyes from rolling, as she replied: "Who would you have asked then?"

"Howard and Bernadette, of course. Why didn't you ask them?"

"Because I was having coffee with Amy yesterday. And you know, I really like her. Besides, you told me, that Bernadette and Howard always fight. Do you want them to ruin our romantic getaway with their constant bickering? And Leonard and... his fiancée are out of the question."

Awww, Raj thought... again. His buttercup is still tetchy about the whole Penny hook up. He kind of liked, that Emily made such a big fuss about it. It made him feel desired. "Please, my angel-face. Are you still jealous of Penny? She's engaged to one of my best friends, and I have you! I didn't even look _once_ at another woman since I'm with you..."

As Raj went on, Emily made a few steps towards him, smiling brighter and brighter with every sweet word that he said.

"You are the _most_ brilliant diamond I ever laid eyes on. You are-"

With a content sigh, she wrapped her arms around his neck and interrupted him with a tender kiss.

"I forgot something in the bedroom. Do you want to come and help me find it?" She whispered.

Sure!, Raj thought, as he enjoyed the feeling of her soft lips on his... But wait, wasn't there something? Weren't they supposed to go somewhere?... Oh, yes! Aspen! The flight! Sheldon! Instantly he let go of her, and exclaimed: "Oh! Look at the time! We'll be late!"

"Don't worry, it'll only be a few minutes." Emily answered, still not quite getting why he made such a big deal out of this.

"A few minutes!? No, we have to leave _right now!" _

Raj took their suitcases, hurried to the door, and held it open for Emily.

"Alright, alright. But I don't understand, why we have to get to the airport that early anyhow. The flight is at three."

"Sheldon decided so, so we follow. You get used to it, my love." Raj said, as he closed the door behind them.

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><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 8.27 AM<em>

Sheldon and Amy sat on the couch, each with a cup of tea in their hands. Amy chose chamomile for both of them, in an attempt to calm both their nerves. She had to admit, that she kind of blindsided him yesterday, when she informed him about the new plan for their Valentine's Day. He complained of course. Seemingly endlessly. However, she made it perfectly clear, that they will go to Aspen. In the end, he relented. Well, kind of. She had to pay a price.

"They're going to be late." Sheldon declared after a look on his watch.

"You don't know that. They still have three minutes."

"I still don't know, how it could have happened, that I have to fly on a Friday the 13th, to a place where it's cold and... Really cold. And on a Friday! The 13th!"

Yes, that fact turned out to be the biggest obstacle. When he remembered the date, he downright refused to go, and he even forbade her to get on that flight as well. But she wasn't having any of it. She was beyond delighted that Emily asked her, and under no circumstances would she allow Sheldon to ruin this. This was when she pulled out the big guns, and offered him sole arbitrament of all their activities on every date for a specific determined time frame. He was intrigued in an instant. He proposed six months, her counteroffer were three, and they met in the middle. The reason for her willingness to go that far, was a teeny tiny, but for her monumental detail, that would make this trip basically a life changing event. She told Sheldon yesterday, but he was so busy pacing around and bitching about all of this, that she's pretty sure, he didn't get that part. She didn't repeat it though. He'll find out soon enough, she figured.

"First of all. This is just a day like any other day. You're superstition is cute, but you know very well, that there is no scientific proof whatsover that more accidents happen on a Friday, the 13th. And second of all, I already told you how it happened. Emily and I had coffee yesterday. She asked, if we'd like to join them. I thought, it's a great idea to celebrate Valentine's Day."

"It was probably the coffee that made you make such a rash decision. Without asking me!"

Of course, Sheldon thought rancorously, his usually right-minded girlfriend drugged herself, and every rational thought flew out of the window. Why did he even agree to that?, Sheldon asked himself. They had a perfect date planned. Since he went on that train trip the year before, to make _her_ happy, he insisted on deciding what they'd do this year. Which was nothing. She would've come over, they'd ordered dinner and would've watched a movie of his choice. On the other hand, he thought, all he had to do now, was to survive the flight and a few days in the cold, and then he could decide for four and half months, what they'd do on their dates. It was a surprisingly grand offer she made, just to get him to agree to come with her. He wondered, why she was willing to go that far. It was probably just another symptom of that "romance madness" she clearly suffered from, he figured. Women... Crazy folks.

"I had tea. And I did ask you." Of some sort, she added internally.

"Why do we have to celebrate a day, that clearly is just a marketing campaign from-"

"Because it's romantic!" Amy shouted out, losing her nerves with every whiny word that left Sheldon's mouth. She took a huge sip of her chamomile tea.

While he did the same, he thought, that it's still _so_ unfair, that she forced him to risk his life on a doomed day like this, just because she's being controlled by her extra x chromosome, that by the way causes nothing but trouble anyhow! "You say that, like it's a good reason. But you know, it's-"

"Sheldon." She interrupted him, with her voice deadly serious, and her expression stern. "We're going to Aspen. And it will be wonderfully romantic." He knew the second, he rolled his eyes, he shouldn't have. "You make it so!" Amy declared, disturbingly determined.

"Okaaay... All I was saying-"

"I know, what you were saying. I'm hearing it for years now! Every single time, when we speak about Valentine's Day."

"Speaking of time. I knew, they'll be late. It's 8.31 now."

It was Amy's turn to roll her eyes. And to acknowledge, that the chamomile tea didn't help at all.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Penny's apartment, 8.43 AM<em>

Leonard loved to watch his sleeping beauty. It was the time of the day, when he could shamelessly look at his stunning fiancée. He regularly pinched himself, just to make sure, that he wasn't dreaming. Of course, he didn't just love her, because she's the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. No. She was loving, funny, smart, independent and strong. And after so many years, he knew perfectly well, that she wasn't perfect at all. But he loved her flaws too. Leonard loved all of Penny, and sometimes he wished they would get married right away. He just couldn't wait to start their new life as husband and wife as soon as possible. But he wouldn't say so. Once, she'll be ready to get married, she'll tell him. He could wait.

Right now though, he had to face a version of Penny, that wasn't so pleasant. In fact, it was straight out scary.

"Penny..." Leonard whispered, as he softly touched her shoulder.

"Grrr..." Was the only response he got.

"Penny... Wake up..." He said a little louder, while he tried to jolt her awake. Not without being prepared to jump away, should she be dangerously unhappy.

"Grrrrrrrrr..." Sounds like a sleeping lion, he thought. A pretty lion, but nonetheless, a beast of prey.

"You have to get ready for work."

"Go to hell!" Penny grunted at him, before she turned away from him, and hid her head under the blanket. At least, she didn't lash out, he thought.

"Penny. You're already late."

"I don't care!" Was the mumbled answer from under the blanket.

"Come on now. Get up, get a shower and get to work. You can't stay here the whole day."

A tired and frustrated looking face showed up, and said with a wheepy and accusing tone "I could. But you won't let me."

It was just tedious, Penny thought. It should be against the law, to make people stand up at such a inhumane hour. Yes! It most certainly is violating the human rights! She's human, right? So she should be allowed to sleep as long until she's properly rested.

"Just one more day, and then it's weekend! That's something, right? And tomorrow we'll have a nice Valentine's Day. And think about it: Sheldon will be gone the whole time. We're having the place all for us. Isn't that great?"

No. Great would be, to sleep some more. The weekend so close was at least a good thing. And Sheldon gone was just an okay thing, at the moment.

"Yeah... I guess, that's something..."

What's he doing? Penny wondered as Leonard walked around the bed. He wasn't seriously considering to do, what she currently feared the most, she hoped. But he was. And once he got to the window he opened the curtain and called out: "Chop, chop. Sun's up!"

The light hurt! "Ahhh! That's too bright!" Penny shouted out in disgust, before she disappeared under the blanket again.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 8.58 AM<em>

Howard and Bernadette sat at the breakfast table, and she thought about the quarrel they had just a few minutes ago. It was, once again, about the dishes. She noticed, that she got much more impatient with him, than she was a year ago or so. Hence the repeated discussions and quarrels over the dishes, cleaning and dirty socks laying around in the whole apartment. They seriously needed a nice day. And Valentine's Day tomorrow was just the right opportunity. And because she felt a bit ashamed of being so tetchy lately, she bought him a great gift. She hoped, it would show him, that she did care about the things he liked.

"I just don't understand, why they didn't ask us to join them." Howard interrupted her train of thought. Again?, she asked herself. Since he came to know, that Raj was going to spent the whole weekend away, he was in a bad mood. And she was getting tired of having to speak or hear about it.

"Emily just asked Amy, that is all. And we will have a nice Valentine's Dinner with Leonard and Penny. And afterwards we're going to make ourselves comfy here." Bernadette replied, smiling and winking at him. She hoped, the prospect of some special quality time, would lighten up his mood.

However, Howard wasn't in the mood for things to light up. His best friend was going away, and all he got was a short text informing him. "Hey buddy, guess what? I'm going to Aspen. Aspen! I'm so lucky! See ya!" He almost choked on his sandwich when he read it the day before. The only thing that made it a bit more bearable was the message he got a few hours later: "She asked Amy! Can you believe it?! I'm going to Aspen with Sheldon. Sheldon!" Just what his unfaithful friend deserved, he thought miffed.

"Don't you remember the last time, we had a Valentine's Dinner with them? They fought about some old lover of Penny, and ruined the whole evening." Howard said. He also remembered that they had a huge fight too, that ended with Bernadette hiding his game box in the washing machine. But better not to remind her of that, he figured.

"Yes. But now they're engaged and besides, what's the alternative? Joining Stuart and your cousin on their dat-"

"Ugh! Don't even start with that!" He exclaimed in disgust. Stuart... He really didn't like the guy. First, he tried to sneak his way between him and Raj, when he went to space just for a few weeks. Then he made himself way too comfortable at his mother's house. And now, he's apparently dating his cousin regularly. It was outrageous.

"Howie... Don't be cranky about Raj. Look, he has to celebrate his and Emily's first Valentine's Day with Sheldon. And we know how much 'fun' that is."

That's a really good point, he thought. "Yeah... You're right." And he couldn't help smiling, just by the thought of Raj suffering through a weekend with the Valentine's Day Grinch. He looked up at his wife, and felt a warm tingling in his belly, as she smiled back at him. Well, he decided, the least he could do is to make tomorrow an especially nice evening for his Bernie. They were fighting a lot lately, and it was stressing him out. What's the big deal about picking up a few socks once in a while? As Howard mused over the peculiar things that ticked women off, another thought formed itself in the back of his mind. Wasn't he supposed to think about something? Or was it something he should do? Or should have done? But what?

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><p><em>Up in the air, flight to Aspen (Colorado), 3.54 PM<em>

Amy sat next to a panicky Sheldon, and she asked herself, not for the first time today, if she really did think this whole thing through. But then again, could she really have let this opportunity pass? No. Never. So, Amy figured, that all they needed to do was to get to the hotel safe and all would be good.

The moment she finished that thought, the pilot was starting to make an announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen. I just received the following information. A blizzard is to be expected to hit Aspen this evening. We will land safe in time. But it is advisable to-"

"OH DEAR LORD! Did you hear that?! We're going to die! And it's your fault!" Sheldon called out. He looked at his girlfriend accusingly with big wide frightened eyes, and his hands clutched the arm rests, as if it would make a difference. It was heartening. For Amy. Not for the other passengers around them, who were startled by his outburst. Little did they know, because Sheldon wasn't remotely done yet.

"He said that we'll arrive safe in time. There's nothing to worry about." Amy replied, and hoped her calm tone would be reassuring. Nevertheless she couldn't help but to wonder, if this was a sign. Of course, she didn't believe in any deity, fate or other unprovable poppycock. And yet, she had to acknowledge the untimely timing of this weather phenomenon. All she wanted, was one weekend full of romance with the man she loved.

The man she loved though, wouldn't fall for her weak attempt to lure him into feeling safe, when no safety is ever guaranteed! He was sure, this was a sign! It's Friday the 13th for God's sake! And he's on a freaking plane, just because of his crazy girlfriend! Whom he loved, so at least they die together, he figured. But that didn't mean, he would just let her get away with this: "I knew, this is a bad idea. Flying on a Friday, the 13th. But did you listen? No. And now it's on you, that the world has to exist without the most brilliant mind it has _ever_ seen!"

"I'm not going to die today, so I'm not worried about the world." Amy replied, with an annoyingly smug smirk on her face. Obviously, Sheldon thought, she didn't fully apprehend the severity of the situation. He had to take matters into his own hands.

A few rows behind them, Raj and Emily were also busy disturbing the passagers around them. Especially the poor man who sat next to Emily. But they didn't care! They're a couple in love, and not afraid to show the world. And most definitely not on Valentine's Weekend. Somehow, as they were celebrating their love intensely, they managed to take notice of the pilot's announcement.

"Oh Emily, a blizzard! How romantic!" Raj whispered, while he put little kisses on her ear and neck.

"How's that romantic?" His love-muffin whispered back, small giggles escaping her, whenever her cutie-pies endearments tingled.

"Well, we're going to be snowed in most likely. And we could stay in our room, and make wonderful, sweet, and tender love..."

"Ohhh..."

Both got so excited by the thought of being locked in their room, that the fondling increased to a really very inappropriate degree now. The man next to them desperately tried to make himself seen or at least heard by clearing his throat constantly. But it was all in vain, the two lovebirds only had eyes for each other. Suddenly though, Raj remembered another very good reason for staying in their room.

"And also, this way, we can avoid partypooper Cooper."

For the first time since they got on the plane both took notice of their surroundings. They looked a bit irritated, when their seatmate let out a deep relieved sigh. Anyhow, when they straightened up, they saw Sheldon standing now and obviously on his way to the pilot.

"Oh man. Sheldon looks like he's _this_ close to jump out of the plane. He's so going to make a scene." Raj said, while he observed his friend and Amy, who just got up and rushed after her boyfriend.

"Amy must have nerves of steel to put up with him. How long are they together?" Emily asked.

"Well, they met four and half years ago. Thanks to me and Howard. But they officially started dating around three years ago."

"And no sex?" Emily asked astounded. When Raj told her everything about each of his friends relationships, it was just a minor fact among many. But now as she watched these two, it seemed to be preposterous.

"No." Raj replied.

"Strange." Emily wondered how that can even be. Must have something to do with his germophobia Raj mentioned. She on the other hand, wouldn't want to live another day without the great and impressive skillful lovemaking of her indian casanova. He was sooo good! When was this flight landing again?, she asked herself.

"Don't tell me." Raj said, unaware that his girlfriend's thoughts already passed on from Sheldon and Amy's nonexisting sex life, to their own very active one. "I'm actually surprised, that Sheldon agreed to come. I mean, they have to share a room and they-"

"They never shared a room!?" Emily couldn't help from shouting out. This is most definitely the strangest couple she ever heard of. "Is he religious or something?"

"No, just crazy... Let's stop talking about them..." Raj declared and snuck closer to his very welcoming girlfriend. And with that their poor seatmate crawled once again back to the very end of the row, desperately trying to ignore their doings. Let's just hope they keep their clothes on, he thought, before he shut his eyes.

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><p><em>Los Angeles Area, pharmaceutical company, Bernadette's office, 4.23 PM<em>

Bernadette decided to call it a day, and got ready to leave her office. She planned to cook a nice dinner for Howard. She knew, he still was upset about the whole Aspen thing, and she hoped a good meal would make up for it a bit. She was just about to leave her office, when her phone rang. It was her rocket man's face, that smiled bright at her on the display.

"Hi Howie. What's up?" She chirped, all happy and joyful.

"There's going to be a blizzard in Aspen!" Her husband screamed at her.

"Oh no! Did you hear from them?" She asked, earnestly concerned about their friends wellbeing.

"No! The flight is supposed to land in about half an hour. So far the homepage didn't announce any changes. And I've heard nothing so far on the news. But that doesn't mean anything." Howard told her, clearly very wired up about it.

"I'm sure, they'll be safe. Raj will call you once they landed." She really hoped, Raj would get in touch with Howard. She knew her husband's best buddy tended to ignore everything and everyone once he was with his girlfriend. Not that Bernadette wasn't happy for Raj. No, no. She most certainly was. Since Raj had Emily, she had much more quality time with Howard. Which mostly was a good thing.

"You really think so?" Howard asked her.

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, honey." And she meant it. There was just no way, that something bad could happen to their friends. She just wouldn't allow it. And Bernadette is used to always get what she wants!

"Thank you. I hope, you're right." He said, and she heard him sighing deeply.

"On another note: Is everything clear with the table reservation for tomorrow?" Bernadette asked. Actually she didn't really care about that. As long as it was a nice restaurant where they would have a pleasant time with their friends, she would be happy. She just brought it up now, to distract Howard from thinking about Raj and the blizzard.

"Huh?"

"You know, for our Valentine's Dinner?" Hmmm, Bernadette wondered, why's he so quiet suddenly? Wasn't it planned, that he would make the reservation? Or Leonard? Anyhow, she figured, someone would have made the reservation.

"Oh! Yes, of course. Don't worry, everything is set." Howard replied after a few more moments. "I gotta go. See you later." He added, and hung up. A bit irritated, Bernadette put her phone back into her purse, closed her office and went to her private bathroom.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Caltech, Howard's lab, 4.37 PM<em>

All the reassuring feelings that all would be indeed good, vanished as soon as Bernadette mentioned the restaurant reservation. Now Howard remembered what it was, that he was supposed to take care of. What an idiot he is, he thought. Weeks ago, Leonard offered to make it, but he insisted. Why oh why? But! Leonard might have done it anyway, right? He's the self acclaimed 'Romance Ninja' after all. Right? With new found hope, he called his friend:

"Hi, it's me. Please tell me, you made the restaurant reservation."

"Oh why, Howard?" Leonard said. Howard noticed the clearly upset voice.

"You really didn't?! Oh God! I'm screwed! So screwed!" Bernadette is going to kill him... And kind of rightfully so.

"You are?! What about me? This is our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple. It was supposed to perfect!" Howard could hear, that Leonard felt exactly like he did. With the exception that he could put the blame on him. Howard didn't have such a nice excuse.

"Okay! I messed up. What do we do now?"

"I don't know. Just start to call every restaurant and hope, that there is still a table free somewhere, and I'll do the same."

"Okay."

They quickly ended the call, and Howard sat down in front of his notebook and searched for restaurants. After the first unsuccessful calls, he realized, that this was going to be a long day. He texted his wife, that he wouldn't make it for dinner in time, and that he would come home late. Before every call, he sent up a prayer, begging for a free table. No one up there was listening though.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<br>**

**And I'd love to hear what you think. Really, reviews make me very happy. : ) **


	2. Friday, February the 13th (Part Two)

**FRIDAY, February the 13th (Part Two)**

_Los Angeles Area, some doctor's office, 6.07 PM_

Penny waited at the reception to see her next appointment. She cursed herself for being late this morning. Now she still had to visit a couple more doctors, instead of being already finished and off into the weekend. Not for the first time Penny vowed to get up earlier from now on. Starting next week! She really liked her job though. She drove around a lot, met all kinds of people (she was a peoples person after all), and selling things turned out to be just her thing. And the money was really great too. Finally she could take care of herself in a good way. And the best thing was, that she could buy the gifts her friends and fiancé deserved. She had the perfect Valentine's present for Leonard, and she couldn't wait to see his face, certainly stunned with astonishment, when she'd give it to him.

As if he would have felt that she was thinking of him, she heard her phone buzz, and saw his smiling face on the display.

"Hi, what's up?"

"I'll be late today." Leonard said, and she immediately noticed his stressed out voice. Is he still upset about the blizzard?, she wondered. But Sheldon already texted him, that despite all the evidence of the contrary, they did indeed land safe in Aspen. Just as she was about to ask what was troubling him, the receptionist gave her the sign that the doctor was ready to see her.

"Oh, Leonard. I'm at a doctor's office now. I'll call you back, okay?" She said smiling at the receptionist, indicating with her hand, that she just needed a moment.

"Wait! Can you stop at the pharmacy to pick up my inhaler?"

"Okay. Bye-"

"Wait! And also some painkillers. I feel a migraine coming up." Something was really going on, Penny figured. But the stern expression on the face of the receptionist, made it clear, that she was not amused at all, that Penny kept the almighty doctor waiting.

"Aw, I'm sorry. But I really have t-."

"Oh! And some condoms? We're out." _Well, _whatever was going on, couldn't be _that_ bad, if he still thought of that, Penny figured. She still had a fake bright smile on her face, in an unsuccessful attempt to appease the fuming dragon behind the desk, when she replied:

"Again? Alright. I hang up now. Bye."

Penny threw her phone into her bag, and rushed towards the doctor's office before the dragon could spit fire at her.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, A nice hotel, 6.39 PM<em>

The group stumbled into the lobby of the hotel. They were freezing, and left a pool of melting snow behind them with every step they made as they walked to the reception desk.

"Thank God! We're safe!" Sheldon called out, a bit surprised that he wasn't dead yet.

The drive from the airport took forever. The blizzard was coming and it was going to hit Aspen hard. The taxi driver could hardly see anything on the road, and they had to bribe him to keep going. Amy felt bad for the poor man, and for her friends. Sheldon was on his worst behavior. The relief of having survived the flight, didn't last long. As soon as he stepped out of the airport, and saw the masses of snow falling and felt the stormy wind, he began to flip out. _Again. _He was having his worst nightmare come true, and he let everyone know. Mostly Amy, as he blamed her over and over again, for their untimely and unnecessary death.

"I told you, we would be here in time. So you see, there was no need _whatsoever_ to make a scene in the plane like that. The pilot couldn't have flown faster anyway! We're lucky that you didn't get arrested right away after we landed! When we're back home, you're going to send a nice gift to that friendly flight attendant, who saved you from getting into real trouble."

Sheldon let out an indignant snort before he retorted: "Friendly?! She told the security people, that I'm crazy. Crazy, Amy! I'm not craz-"

As Sheldon and Amy continued to quarrel, Raj and his girlfriend took a few steps away from them, and chose to wait in the other line to check in.

"I told you, it was a bad idea to take him with us." Raj said and looked at Emily with one eybrow raised. Sheldon was no fun to be around with on a day that was supposed to cherish the marvels of love.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Next time, we'll go alone." Emily said and looked at him apologetic.

"Or we take Howard and Bernadette with us." Raj said, and smiled bright at the idea.

"Yeah, maybe..." Was Emily's less than enthusiastic reply.

"Why? Don't you like my Howie?" Emily noticed the slight outrage in his voice

"I do... Now... I don't even think of him as Clogzilla anymore... Would _we_ share a room then, or you and _your_ Howie?" She asked, half joking, half serious, because: who knows? She found his now almost mortally offended face so cute.

"'Funny'. There's nothing wrong with two men sharing the deep bond of friendship."

"You shared a lot more over the years..."

In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have told her _everything_ about his past. As he looked at her though, he saw her grinning, and he thought, that he most definitely had the coolest girlfriend on the planet! What a lucky man he is. Finally!

"Let's just get to the room... I could use a shower." Emily said, her voice lower and her smile enticing. Oohhoo, Raj thought. What a cool girlfriend indeed!

"Ohhh... Can I help you?"

"I was counting on it..."

Before the kiss they shared could heaten up, they got rudely disturbed by the couple in line after them. It was their turn to check in.

It was also Sheldon and Amy's turn at the other counter. Amy feared this moment the whole day, and now it had come.

"ONE ROOM?!" Sheldon screamed at the man behind the desk.

"Shhh, Sheldon. I told you..." Amy tried. She didn't even dare to look around her, knowing that all the people were staring at them. Sheldon though, unsurprisingly, didn't give a damn.

"YOU DID NOT TELL ME THAT!" He yelled at her. His voice high pitched, and when he turned around to face Amy, she saw his eyes wide open, staring at her in pure shock. This is a nightmare, she thought. And she knew, it's her own fault. She should have told him again yesterday, when he wasn't listening. But she didn't, just because she knew, he would never ever agreed to come. And she just couldn't let that happen. She stepped closer to him and whispered:

"Pease stop yelling, Sheldon. I'm sorry, that I didn't tell you again. But I did. Really."

"You planned this." He retorted, but at least he stopped screaming and was whispering back. Amy was over the place embarrassed, that she stood here, with her own boyfriend blaming her to have tricked him into sharing a room.

"I did not plan this. The trip Emily won was for two couples, so naturally it included only two rooms." And she dropped her voice even lower when she added "I promise, you have nothing to worry about. I'm not expecting anything to happen. All I want is for us to have a nice time together."

He just looked at her, but she noticed relieved that his breathing slowed down, and his deep red cheeks slowly returned to a normal color. Maybe he's accepting it, she hoped. It's not that they had a choice anyway.

"Uhm... Excuse me, Dr. Fowler, Dr. Cooper. Are you going to take the room? There are other guests waiting."

How dare this man! Sheldon thought. He was having a major crisis right now. And what did he care about other people?!

"Well, I'm sorry that we are such a disturbance to-" But before he could go on to insult the man's profession, his family, and his, as Sheldon found, obvious simple upbringing, Amy interrupted him.

"We'll take it. Thank you." Amy declared, and signed the paper. When she held out the pen to Sheldon, he let out a deep sigh, and accepted his inevitable doom when he took it and signed as well.

"Enjoy your stay." The receptionist said with an unsure smile.

"Pfft!" Was all that Sheldon managed to get out, as Amy grabbed her luggage with one hand, and his arm with the other. "Yes, thank you. Let's go, Sheldon." she replied and dragged him away.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 6.43 PM<em>

Leonard sat at his desk, and massaged his left temple with his fingers, while he held the phone in his other hand. His head felt like it was about to burst any moment now, and his ear was hot and hurt as well. For the last hours, he called one restaurant after the other, with no luck whatsoever. Against all better knowledge he hoped that his friend had better news.

"So, did you find a restaurant?" Leonard asked.

"No. You?" was Howard's expected answer.

"No."

"Damn! What are we going to do now?" Leonard knew, that Howard knew, what he would response. But he also knew, that his friend didn't want to hear it.

"Well, there's only one option left. You need to-"

"No!" Howard shouted out.

"Howard. Make the call."

"No. Not yet. Let us try some more." Howard was basically begging Leonard.

"Howard. I already called dozens of restaurants. I have an awful headache. I'm done. Please, just call-"

"No. I'm going to find a restaurant. Talk to you later." His friend said stubbornly and just hung up on him.

"Alright, alright." Leonard said to himself, and continued to massage his temples, and tried to brace himself for a most likely catastrophic Valentine's Day. Should he tell Penny about this? Should he wait, just in case things would turn around to the better? Maybe he shouldn't dwell on this too much, he thought. Penny was thankfully not as obsessed with romance as he was. She most likely would find that amusing. Wouldn't she? Sure, she would, he reassured himself. Which helped a lot with his headache. So he left his desk, walked over to the refrigerator and took a bottle of water out. Yes, he thought, he really should stop worrying too much. He decided to order dinner, and watch a nice movie. Or, even better, a tv show, he hadn't seen for quite a while. Babylon 5. How great it was to have the apartment for himself once in a while, he thought, as he made himself comfortable in Sheldon's spot. Which was after all, the best place in the whole apartment.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, hotel lobby, 6.56 PM<em>

As they stood in front of the elevator, the couples took a closer look around. It really was a nice hotel. Not very big, with a dark wooden interior design and warm lighting. Homely, was the word all of them thought of. Even Sheldon, who got over the first shock of having to share a room with Amy, liked it. Maybe, he even found himself thinking, this trip wasn't such a bad idea after all. Besides, he couldn't deny, that lately he thought a lot about moving his and Amy's physical relationship a bit forward. But he didn't think of sharing a room yet, let alone a bed. He was thinking more along the lines of trying french kissing out on one of their next dates. Or touching her boobs within the next year. While he was musing over naughtily touching his girlfriend, his eyes caught something else. A stand-up display announcing an event that was happening this weekend. When he read the content, he thought, he most certainly was the unluckiest guy on the whole planet.

"Oh no. This can't possibly get any worse." Sheldon declared.

"What is it now?" Amy asked, clearly still a bit hacked off.

"Look over there. 'The secret to a life full of happiness and love'. What a malarkey!" Sheldon basically spit out the last part.

The others turned around to look at the display and after a few moments, Raj walked over to get some brochures. When he came back, he said:

"There are seminars, like "The key to create a healthy relationship". It's held by some love guru."

"Certainly a hippie." Sheldon stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah... Here's a short biography" Raj said and began to read aloud: "As a young hippie I traveled-"

"Don't say more!" Sheldon interrupted him, and turned around to take a closer look at the other guests. He hasn't noticed it before, but they all did look suspiciously hippie like. The women wore a lot of long wide dresses, and the men wore mostly wide shirts and trousers. All of the clothes were obviously made out of hemp or something else, these people smoked on a regular basis.

"Look around. This place is crowed by hippies!" He turned around to face Amy, and added accusingly: "Why did you take me here?!"

"I didn't know about that." Amy answered. She wasn't a fan either. Basically everything these people believed in was complete nonsense. Like the healing power of stones, astral projections, and other esoteric shenanigans.

"Yeah, me neither." Emily chimed in, and she looked equally annoyed by all these happy smiling people, who seemed to hug everyone they saw. "Otherwise, I would have reconsidered coming here. I find this hippie mumbo jumbo ridiculous, too." she added.

"You found a smart lady, Raj. I'll give you that." Sheldon said, and offered his friend an approving nod, and a small smile to Emily.

Raj however, couldn't disagree more. "I like it. What's more important than to find happiness and love?" He said, and when he saw the miffed faces of the others he continued: "Think about it. How empty our lives would be, without the joy-"

"Shut it, Raj." Sheldon ordered.

"Well, Sheldon. We can just ignore them." Amy declared, wondering where the damn elevator was. She just wanted to get into _their_ room at last.

Just as Sheldon nodded in agreement, they were approached by one of the bright smiling happy people. Except for Raj, all took a step back as the lady came closer with her arms spread wide open, apparently ready to give them all a tight group hug.

"Hello, and welcome to a wonderful weekend." She said in a calm, almost singing voice. "We'll celebrate love, intimacy and-"

But she got no further, as Sheldon declared: "We're not partaking in such nonsense."

How the friendly woman took that as an invitation to raise her hand, obviously about to touch Sheldon, will forever stay a mystery. Determined to prevent the worst, he took another step backwards and shouted out in a screeching voice: "Get your hand out of my face, woman!"

That did the job, and the shocked lady lowered her hand instantly, and took a step back herself now. Amy, horrified by what she just witnessed, had a point of her own to make though:

"Hey lady! No one is allowed to touch my sweet baboo! Do you want your nose broken?!"

Sheldon couldn't help but to beam at his wonderful girlfriend: "I'll listen to her. She's been known to break people's noses." He said proudly.

"I'm sorry, should I have offended you." The now very insecure woman said. She was about to leave the odd couples, but not without to remind them that "All we need is love and peace!" And with that she finally turned around and walked off.

"Let's just get into our rooms." Emily said, asking herself why in the world the elevator needed so long.

"Okay. Should we meet for dinner later?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, sure. At eight?" Raj replied.

"Okay."

Finally the elevator arrived, and when another bunch of hippies stepped out, three of the group jumped back, fearing more unwanted contact. Raj however greeted everyone with a little bow, a heartfelt "Namaste", and a bright smile.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's Apartment, 7.02 PM<em>

After Bernadette received the text from her husband, that he would be late this evening, she took the opportunity to go shopping. She was in a great mood, as she found a beautiful dress, that she planned to wear tomorrow for their Valentine's Day Dinner. She really didn't care before in what restaurant they would go, but now that she had that wonderful dress, she hoped that it would be a really fancy one. She called Howard earlier to ask which one it would be, but he didn't say. Just that it's a surprise. That really got her excited. So, she figured, he was planning something really nice for her. She walked to the bathroom and made preparations for a nice and relaxing bath. With a warm feeling in her belly, she thought about her lovely hubby, who, despite all the flaws, was after all the best husband one could wish for. She was so lucky!

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, pharmacy, 7.26 PM<em>

Penny stood at the counter in the pharmacy, and hoped that she didn't forget anything. Condoms? Check. Inhaler? Check. Painkillers? Check. Yes, she had everything. Hopefully Leonard's headache wasn't too bad, and they could enjoy some private quality time later, she thought.

"Is that all, miss?" The pharmacist interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh... Yes, thank you."

She paid and turned around, just to walk straight into another person, and landed hard on the floor. "Ouch!" She cried out.

An elderly man, thankfully still standing, looked down at her. Clearly embarrassed about the incident, as he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings as he approached the counter. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, and was already half way out of the store, when he realized that he forgot something.

"Sorry, miss." He said, helping Penny to get up.

Once she stood, she saw that they both let their bags drop. She picked them up, and handed him the one, which was laying closest to him, and took the other one.

"It's okay, nothing happened. Here's your bag."

"Thank you." The man replied, and offered her a shy smile, which Penny found kind of cute. As she walked to her car, she decided not to go home yet, but rather to make a stop at the mall. Maybe she found a nice dress that would make Leonard's eyes pop out. She loved, when that happened. She was of course used to get goggled at by men, but it was never so pleasing and reassuring than when Leonard looked at her like that. Maybe it's the love thing, she figured.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's room, 7.35 PM<em>

The two lovebirds laid on the bed, wrapped in towels, and relaxed after a long and quite acrobatic shower. Raj could look at his sunflower the whole day. For him, she really was his own personal sun. Whenever he saw her, or even just spoke to her, everything seemed sunny. Now as he laid there next to her, he just couldn't believe what a lucky man he was. How beautiful she was. How her red hair fell down her shoulders. How soft her pale skin. How mesmerizing her eyes. No, there was no doubt, that Rajesh Koothrappali was in love. Like he never has been before. He snickered a bit, when he thought about a conversation he had many months ago with Sheldon. Sheldon, of all people, was right when he told him, that Raj's mistake was, to declare every woman that just looked twice at him to be his soulmate and love of his life.

"What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about a conversation I had with Sheldon a while ago."

"I don't believe that conversations with him can be funny."

"They actually can. He can be funny too. But that's not it."

"What then?"

"Well, it's just that, before we got together, all I ever wanted, was to find someone to love. And I think now, that I was too desperate in trying. Remember how I messed up, when we first met?" Emily did remember perfectly, and nodded. "Now I know the difference between real love, and just the idea of it." Raj said, and continued to draw little lines with his finger on her shoulder and arm.

"Awww... I love you too." Emily put her hands on his cheeks, and pulled her knight in shining armor closer. For her, that's what Raj was. He was everything she ever hoped to find in a man. Sweet, smart, good looking. He was simply the whole package of perfection.

"Hmmm..." Raj sighed, and hoped this moment would never end. But then he remembered, that it would, and unfortunately way too soon. "Can we not order room service?" He asked between kisses.

"I'd love too" Emily answered. "But I think we have to support Amy. I feel so sorry for her." She added.

"Don't." Raj said matter-of-factly. "She knows him better than anyone, and she knows how to handle him better than anyone. She's fine."

"You just don't want to leave the room." Emily said teasingly. And she found herself more and more in agreement, with every kiss they shared.

"True. But I also mean it. The Shamy is doing perfectly fine. Trust me."

They continued to fool around for a few more moments, but stopped when they noticed the unmistakable sounds their empty stomachs made. Raj rolled off her and looked for the menu for room service. Albeit, Emily wasn't sure about that. Maybe they should join Amy and Sheldon after all? She always worked so much, and she didn't really get to know his friends yet. And despite everything, Sheldon was one of his best friends. Besides, she was pretty curious. Maybe spending time with the two of them, would shed some light into their strange relationship?

"Honey bear? Don't be disappointed, but I really would like to have dinner with them."

"Really?" Raj asked obviously disappointed. But when he saw his duckling's cute smile, he gave in. "Oh, alright. Let's get ready then. You don't want to let him wait again."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 7.44 PM<em>

Amy was positively stressed out by now. And hungry. When they first entered the room, Sheldon instantly began his thorough inspection. She knew, he just tried to avoid the elephant in the room. The huge king size bed. When all was checked, and everything unpacked, he stood in the middle of the room for a few moments. His gaze went from the bed to the small couch, and back again. And then he looked at her, probably for the first time since they opened the door. She knew, what he was getting at, and before he could say anything, she declared, that under no circumstances would she sleep on the couch. He let out a deep sigh, and finally went over to the bed. He tested both sides, and stated that he will sleep on the left, and she on the right, with the middle as a "neutral zone". Apparently that was slang for "no one is allowed to go there". But Amy accepted it. She wasn't really hoping for anything to happen in that bed anyway. She found the thought of sharing one with Sheldon exciting enough. Once that was settled, it was already time to get dressed for dinner. Amy really thought, that finally things could get romantic now, starting with a nice dinner. But no.

"You want me to leave the room, so that you can use the bathroom?!" She asked, and shook her head in disbelief.

"Yes." He answered, as if it would be the most normal thing to ask for.

"That's ridiculous, Sheldon." Amy replied.

"It's not."

"It is."

"It's not."

"IT IS!"

"IT'S NOT!" Sheldon was losing patience with his woman. And he also really needed to go to the bathroom. Why did she always have to make a big fuss out of everything?, he wondered.

"Can you please just get ready for dinner? I'm hungry." Amy asked pleadingly, without, as Sheldon noticed, making the slightest move to get out of the room. Alright, he thought, have it her way then. As usual.

"Fine! But just that you know: Supressing the natural need to clear out ones bowel is not healthy. If I suffer an enterocele, it's on you!"

"Fine! I'll go." And she finally walked towards the door.

Sheldon hurried to the bathroom, but before closing the door, he called after her: "It's your fault too that my bathroom schedule got ruined by this unnecessary ordeal you're forcing me to partake in. Valentine's Day..." He shut the door and in hindsight, shouldn't have yelled out what he did next: "What a moronic convention that is!"

Instead of hearing the front door being closed, he heard steps coming back, dangerously close to the bathroom. Drat, he thought.

"Sheldon. I told you to make this a wonderful romantic getaway. And I am telling you, so far, you're not even _remotely_ close in making me feel romantically satisfied!"

"GET OUT!"

"FINE!"

And a few seconds later, he heard the wonderful sound of the front door being slammed shut.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 10.51 PM<em>

Howard and Bernadette laid in their bed. He just came home fifteen minutes earlier, and he sincerely hoped, his wife would already sleeping by then. Her call earlier, asking about the restaurant, made him severely nervous, and he really didn't want to talk about that with her face to face. He thought to be in luck, when all was dark and he found Bernadette already in bed. Unfortunately though not sleeping yet. He tried for hours, but didn't find a restaurant which still had a free table. As he tried not to think about that anymore, he felt Bernadette wrapping her arm around him and snuggling into him.

"Aren't you glad, that Raj is safe? You still seem a bit tense." Bernadette asked worried.

"I just had a stressful day, that's all." He answered, and thought, it would be a good idea to change the subject. "Did you hear something from Amy?" He asked.

"No, but I'm sure she's having the time of her life. Did you know, that she and Sheldon have to share a room?" Bernadette replied with a small giggle.

"Whaaat? And he agreed to that?!" Raj really didn't tell him anything, he thought disappointed.

"She isn't sure, if he heard her when she told him. He was already fussing and fuming about the whole trip in general. She didn't bother to say it again."

"Well, well, well. So the almighty Dr. Cooper will get some action after all..." Howard said, snickering now too. Just the thought of Sheldon having to admit that he is not so above his baser urges lightened up his mood instantly.

"You don't know that." Bernadette rebutted.

"Of course, I do. Haven't you seen the way Sheldon is checking Amy out lately?"

"Whaaaat? No... Are you sure?" Bernadette sat straight up, and looked skeptical at Howard.

"Yes, how could you've missed that?" Howard told her, and he remembered the few occasions when that happened, and how enormously hard it was, to keep his mouth shut.

"And you didn't say anything?!" Bernadette asked, now with her eyebrows raised. She knew Howard, and that little feud he had going on with Sheldon. Granted, they bonded a bit last year, but still. She just couldn't believe, that he would let such a great opportunity to make fun of Sheldon go.

"Raj and Leonard forbade it. It's wasn't easy though. After all the years of mocking me, I finally had some _real_ good material to make him feel horrible."

"You could have at least told me." She was less than pleased with the lack of communication between them, when it came to interesting stuff like that.

"They forbade that too. You would've told Amy. And the guys decided it's best to let nature take its course... Besides, you may not believe it, but I don't spend my days thinking about Sheldon and his erections."

"You think, he got an erection?!" She shouted out, and the beagle almost howled. "Just from looking at her?!" Bernadette couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt the sudden urge to call someone. Penny, or even better, Amy. Oh, Amy would be delighted! Maybe though, she figured, she doesn't need to tell her anyway. Maybe Amy is already finding out by herself right now.

"Hey! I get an erection just from looking at you too!" Howard exclaimed a bit offended. "Especially when you wear this tiny nightgown." He added as his gaze went from her face a level lower. Which made Bernadette smile, and she bent down to kiss her cute and, as she could tell, horny husband.

"Yes, you do..."

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 11.07 PM<em>

Penny let herself into the apartment, and was surprised that everything was dark. Maybe he's already waiting for her in his bedroom, she thought. She got home an hour earlier, but decided to take a bath first. After that long and exhausting day, it was just what she needed. She didn't find a dress, and left the mall unsatisfied. She planned to make up for it though, with a little fun time with her fiancé. But when she opened the door to his bedroom, she found him indeed fast asleep. That's a bit disappointing, she thought. Wasn't he the one telling her this morning, that they should use the Sheldon-free time as efficient as possible? She snuck closer to his bed and sat down on the edge.

"Leonard?" She whispered, touching his shoulder lightly.

"Hmmm..." Was the only response she got.

"Leonard, wake up." She said a little louder.

"Hmmmm..."

"Wake up. I bought new condoms... The ones you like so much." That will do the job, she was sure.

"I'm tired Penny. And I have a headache." Leonard mumbled, which most definitely wasn't the answer, she expected. But alright, she thought.

"Okay... The bag from the pharmacy is on the table in the living room." She said, and stood up.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Leonard asked still half asleep.

"No, I'll go over to my place and watch some TV... Because that's what I'm doing these days on a Friday night." Penny answered, and wondered when exactly she became so boring.

"Okay... Good Night." Leonard replied and closed his eyes again. But instead of hearing Penny leave, he felt her sitting down again.

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. I know, I'm usually not like that, but I have to admit, I'm so excited about what my romance ninja has planned for our first Valentine's Day since we're engaged. I'm sure, it'll be so wonderful, we're going to tell our grandkids about it!"

Leonard was wide awake now. He didn't expect that. And his headache hit back hard, and he raised his hands to massage his temples once more.

"Owwww... My head... It hurts so much!" He whined.

"Awww..." Penny said, and stroked his arms a few times "I'll leave you alone then. Good night... I love you, Leonard."

"I love you too." He replied, and felt miserable.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading. So, the doomed Friday, the 13th has passed, and things can finally improve... Or not... We'll see... ;)<strong>


	3. Saturday, February the 14th (Part One)

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reading and for the reviews! Btw: if you want, you can find the rules of this challenge in the TBBT Fan Forums "Fan Fiction" section. I already have the trip to Aspen, the blizzard, the conference, and the pharmacy incident. But that's all I'm going to say, since I am (kind of obsessively) spoiler free, I don't want to spoil you. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter :)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>SATURDAY, February the 14th (Part One)<strong>

_Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 2.43 AM_

Since they went to bed Sheldon didn't find one second of sleep. He just couldn't get over the fact that Amy laid under the same blanket within his reach. He let out a deep sigh, when he thought about what happened a few hours earlier. After an surprisingly enjoyable dinner (except for some more objectionable bonding attempts they had to fend off), they got back to their room, and continued the heated but at the same time strangely delightful discussion about the pros and cons of eating a banana horizontally. When she finally admitted defeat, it was way past his bedtime. She went into the bathroom, and he changed into his pajamas there. He sat down on the bed, and prepared himself mentally for having to share it with her, when he heard the shower turned on.

And then it hit him. Really hard. She was naked. Under the shower. _Naked. _Just right there. Behind the thin door. It's not that it never happened before. It did, and lately not just occasionally. However, he thought, this was simply the worst moment ever. After a few more minutes of cursing his private body part, and unsuccessfully ignoring the sounds of the shower, he thought it would be best to just pretend to be already asleep.

He got under the sheets, and had his eyes tightly shut when he heard the shower being turned off. Now she's probably drying herself, he thought. And cursed himself again, for not even trying to make things better down there. When he heard the bathroom door opening, and her walking over to her side of the bed, he was determined not to look. But when he felt her sitting down, his eyes just popped open. There she sat in that stupid cute nightgown, with her soft and shiny dark hair falling down her shoulders and back. He watched mesmerized as she took off her glasses, crawled under the blanket, and placed the pillow into a more comfortable position. Sheldon noticed that besides the not improving situation down south, his fast and uneven heart rate was worth a thorough check-up from a cardiologist. He felt it stop beating altogether when she laid down at last, looked at him and said with a shy smile "Goodnight, Sheldon." He just mumbled something that could have been a goodnight wish as well.

He didn't have a good night. He still couldn't quite comprehend what made him press his point so vehemently in the banana controversy. Even _after_ he finally understood what "being a good girl" in this context meant. Did he really just couldn't stand that she ate the delicious fruit the wrong way, _or_ did he want Amy to be a bad girl? Why did he like it so much when she promised to always eat it the proper way from now on? And why did he forbid her to do so when she wasn't alone with him?

As Sheldon laid there hour after hour, images of Amy eating bananas the correct way, of her under the shower, of her drying herself, and many more equally exciting ones fogged his mind. What to do now?, he asked himself. Well, he had some good ideas. But maybe they were only good because he was so tired and not thinking straight, he argued with himself. But then again, when was the last time he had a bad idea? Good point Dr. Cooper. He rolled to the side to face her, and instantly he found himself captivated by her beauty in the moonlight that flooded the room through the thin curtains. It was still not a good moment, but somehow, Sheldon wasn't bothered at all. He blamed bananas, showers, and the moon.

"Amy? Are you sleeping?"

"Amy? Are you sleeping?" He asked a little louder. But besides of a few snoring sounds, he still got no response.

"Amy?! Are you sleeping?!" Sheldon almost shouted into the silence. Finally, Amy slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What is it?" She asked, and if he had to guess, she sounded a bit worried.

"I can't sleep."

"Why?"

"I don't know... Well, I'm used to sleep in the middle of the bed... Sooo..." What a great start, he congratulated himself.

Amy though, couldn't believe her ears. Does this man know no limits of being selfish? Of course, Sheldon would wake her up just to kick her out of the bed, so he could sleep in the freaking "neutral zone"! With the adequate annoyance in her voice, she replied: "I'm not going to sleep on the couch. _You_ can, if you find it so uncomfortable here. And I don't care, if it's too small." She turned her back on him, and was royally riled now. The dream she had just a few moments ago, was _so_ nice and romantic.

"Nooo... I wasn't going to ask you to..." She heard Sheldon say behind her. His voice a mixture between cantankerous and... What? Flirtatious? Huh? Can that even be? Well, what's to loose?, she figured. She turned around once more, and offered the perfect solution for his 'problem': "Well, you could just come over to the middle of the bed."

And to her utter surprise, he did just that right away. She couldn't stop the "Hoo" escaping her, when she felt Sheldon so close.

"Hi." She whispered, smiling bright at him.

"Hi." He replied, beaming equally bright, and being enormously proud of himself.

"So, is this better?"

"Yes."

It's _so_ much better, she thought. The day really wasn't the disaster it appeared to be. All the strain was forgotten, when they came back to their room. While she was under the shower, she couldn't stop wondering, if Sheldon's insistence on the banana issue meant, that he wanted her to be a bad girl. And oh! How she would love to be a bad girl! As she dried herself, she prepared herself for the task to get out there, and not attack her poor sweet baboo right away. It was not easy though. Amy felt almost overwhelmed when she saw Sheldon already laying in bed. How she managed to stay that composed, was beyond her. But she did, and was enormously proud of herself for not letting it show _how_ excited she was about getting under one blanket with her boyfriend.

"You're warm." Sheldon said, still whispering.

"So are you."

"It's... Hmmm... Comfy."

"It is... I like it."

"Of course you do. You finally got me into bed with you." But interestingly, he didn't sound as if he would mind anymore.

"I did... Don't you like it?"

"I don't dislike it..."

Amy thought, since they were already here, and awake, why not get things a little bit warmer? _Hot_ even. What's to loose, right?

"Do I get a good night kiss?" She asked, still whispering.

"You're greedy." But interestingly, he didn't sound like he would mind that either.

"I am... So, do I?"

Instead of answering, he moved closer until he hovered above her. She held her breath when he lowered his head, and kissed her softly. And that's what heaven must feel like, was the last coherent thought Amy had for the next wonderful hour.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 7.03 AM<em>

Leonard felt exhausted. After Penny left the evening before, he just couldn't find any proper sleep. And when he did, he dreamed of Valentine's Day and it was a disaster every time. So around six he decided to stand up and face whatever this day would bring. He forced himself to eat some cereals and took a long shower. And now it was time to force Howard to face the truth as well. He understood why his friend didn't want to, but nevertheless he had to make the stupid call.

"Howard. It's me. Do you have a plan yet?"

"No. We need to call more restaurants." Leonard couldn't believe it. He can't be serious, he thought.

"Are you crazy? We already spent almost the whole day yesterday calling restaurants. Most of them laughed hysterically at me. You need to call-"

"Nooo, not yet." Howard's voice was almost heartbreaking. But it couldn't be helped. It was the only option left.

"Howard..."

"Let me try some more. Okay?" His friend begged, and Leonard couldn't deny him. It was a bad idea, he knew that. But maybe someone canceled, and somewhere a table got free.

"You have until noon." He declared.

"Okay" Howard said, and he heard the relieved sigh. Well, he's most likely just delaying the inevitable, Leonard thought

"Did you hear from Sheldon?"

"Yeah, he texted me yesterday early evening again, before he and Amy went to dinner. According to him, he's trapped in the freezing version of hell. Apparently they're stuck in the hotel, and not allowed to leave because of the blizzard. There is a conference for couples therapy or something. And all the other guests are annoying 'hippies', who are way too affectionate for his liking. Things couldn't get any worse... But of course, he doesn't know what kind of hell we have to survive should this evening become the disaster that it looks like to be."

"All will be good, I promise." That didn't sound very convincing, Leonard thought. This is really getting ridiculous.

"Just save us the time and trouble and make the damn call!"

"Do you think the Shamy will finally do the deed in Aspen?" Howard asked, obviously trying to change the subject. But Leonard was curious himself about what might or might not happen in Aspen.

"Well, with all the checking her out lately... But I don't think, they will do 'it', but maybe they'll do at least _something_."

"I just cannot wait to rub it into his face, once he officially caved." Howard declared.

"That's mean." Leonard said, but snickered when he thought about how enjoyable it would be, when all the condescending remarks he had to hear from his best friend over the years, would finally blow back into Sheldon's face.

"Anyhow. We really should have planned more besides to just take the women to a restaurant. Why didn't we? It wouldn't be so bad now, if we at least would have tickets for a play or something. But now we have nothing."

"I know. But the restaurant we originally planned to go to, was a great idea itself. They make special dinner events, and-"

"Stop! Don't tell me what we would have had, would you have made the reservation! Just go and make more calls. I'll try too."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Leonard went over to his desk once again, and tried to find restaurants, he didn't already call. There weren't many left.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's room, 7.47 AM<em>

When Emily woke up, she felt great. The dinner yesterday evening with Sheldon and Amy turned out to be quite entertaining. She realized that Raj was right after all. When he's not suffering some meltdown, Sheldon was funny and interesting. So was Amy. But that she already knew. And when they weren't fighting, 'Shamy' was a cute couple, and he was clearly head over heels in love with her. The food was delicious as well, and the dessert she got once they were back in their room was perfect too. In fact, she was in the mood for a second serving.

"Raj..." She whispered, while snuggling closer to him.

"Yes?" He mumbled, still half asleep.

"When are we supposed to meet them for breakfast?"

"At 9."

"Oh good... Are you awake?" She asked, and let her hand wander around under the sheets.

"I am now..." He answered, and let his hand travel under her nightshirt. But wait, he thought suddenly, wasn't there something he wanted to do first thing in the morning? He was distracted by his girlfriend's caresses, but after a few moments he remembered what it was: "Oh! I almost forgot! How could I?!" He called out, disappointed with himself, and got away from a equally disappointed Emily.

"What is it?"

"I have to call the Pooch Hotel! I just hope Cinnamon could sleep without me! Poor baby! All alone with strangers, just because I can't trust any of my friends with her care!" Raj ranted as he got out of the bed and searched for his phone. Emily sighed a bit frustrated, but at the same time she found his sincere worry about his dog adorable. Not to mention that Cinnamon was a very lovable pet. Nevertheless, she forbade him to exchange any saliva with her. There are limits!

"Why can't you trust your friends with her? They know, how much she means to you."

"They do! And yet, Bernadette and Howard lost her once, and Leonard and Penny poisoned her last Valentine's Day! Can you believe them?!" He looked up from the phone, and she felt her heart jump as she saw his outraged face.

"How dare they!... But make it quick and come back. It's getting cold in here..." She said and smiled enticing.

"Ohhh!"

And not two minutes later they were once again entangled under the blanket.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 7.54 AM<em>

When Amy woke up, she felt great. She couldn't believe it. But here she was, laying in bed with Sheldon. And not just only laying, but cuddling too! She thought, that she was so wrong to believe that last year's Valentine's Day would be the best for all eternity. No, this one was, regardless of whatever else may happen. This was the day, she would always remember as the one she and Sheldon finally made out. In bed! Including french kissing! And him finding second base (by accident and only for a few glorious seconds, but still!). What a wonderful day it was!

"Hmmm... That's nice, waking up like that." She whispered, snuggling closer into him.

"It is..." He whispered back, holding her tight in her arm.

"You see, sharing a room isn't that bad." She looked up, and suffered a tiny heart attack, when she saw his disheveled hair and stubbly face. How sexy, she thought happily.

"No, it's really not." He looked at her, and made a mental note to make an appointment with his doctor as soon as possible. Not that he didn't already suspect that it was the love thing making his heart not function properly, but better be on the safe side, he figured.

"Sharing a bed is even better."

"So it seems..." He didn't feel it often, but he regretted making such a fuss about it the day before. He already apologized at dinner, but he still felt a bit guilty. All Amy wanted was a romantic Valentine's Day, and as ridiculous he found the concept in the first place, he decided to give her exactly that. And what they did a few hours before was apparently a perfect start, if her happy and excited face was any indication. He also had to admit, that he kind of wished they would have done that sooner. But how could he have known, that the guys actually had a point with all their obsessing over everything that included touching? French kissing turned out to be everything else but disgusting. And her breasts felt great too. A bit too great though, which is why he forced himself to take his hand away only after a few amazing moments.

"Are we going to that again, when we're back home?" He sighed, when he saw the coquettish smile on her face.

"Sleepovers?"

"Yes."

He thought about it for a split second, but couldn't find any reason against it.

"Sure."

Ugh, he thought. Suddenly he felt something again, which he needed to take care of. Fast, it seemed.

"Do you really want to?" Amy asked.

"I do. I really do." Sheldon replied, while freeing himself from Amy's grip and jumping out of bed.

"Good." She said, standing up as well and heading for the bathroom. Oh no, Sheldon thought, that's not okay.

"Amy wait. You have to leave now."

"What?!"

"I need to go to the bathroom. And it can't wait."

"Sheldon! I'm in my nightgown!"

"Yes, chop chop. Get dressed and get out!" He declared, while looking for her clothes and throwing them at her. He made a beeline to the bathroom, and slammed the door behind him.

"Get out Amy!"

"Fine!"

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Penny's apartment, 7.59 AM<em>

What fresh hell is that? Penny wondered, as she slowly came back to her senses. Her phone? Who dared to disturb her at such an unholy hour?! It looked like it was still in the middle of the night!

"What?" She answered her phone.

"Hi, it's me." A chirping voice greeted her.

"Are you out of your mind?! It's not even 8! Did something happen? It better has!" What's so damn difficult to follow the rules? No one is allowed to disturb her before eleven! No one!

"No, nothing. I'm just calling to check what color your dress has for tonight. You know, so that we don't wear the same."

Bernadette must be crazy, Penny thought. Who cared about colors at this time of the day?!

"What do I know? I don't even know my name right now. I'll call you back." She replied, and was about to hang up.

"When?"

"After 11. As it's supposed to be."

"Penny. You're a grown-up-" Bernadette started to lecture her. She can't be serious, Penny thought annoyed. It's bad enough, that she had to get up that early on weekdays.

"It's Saturday, and I don't give a rats ass about being grown up or not. Let me sleep!"

"Okaaay!... Are you exited about tonight?" Her friend asked, obviously unwilling to let her find a few hours more delightful sleep. But then again, she _was_ excited about tonight.

"Actually I am. I'm sure, whatever the guys have planned will be great."

"Yeah, I think so too. Howard is already so tense." Bernadette said. Her voice a few octaves higher as usual. It hurt a bit in her ear, Penny noticed.

"Leonard too. We're going to have a wonderful night!"

"We're so lucky!"

"We really are."

"Sooo, what color has your dress?" Aha, back to business, Penny figured.

"Blue."

"Oh. Are you sure, that's the color you want to wear?" Bernadette asked with that tone, Penny wasn't particularly fond of. Like she's disapproving. But Penny new her friend long enough to know what she really wanted.

"Is it the color you want to wear?" She asked, knowing the answer already.

"I don't have to, if you insist... But you do know, that red really is your color, right?" That's so lame, Penny thought. But she really didn't care, and she had many nice dresses she knew Leonard liked.

"Alright. I wear a different dress then." She replied.

Apparently that was all Bernadette needed to hear, because suddenly it seemed she couldn't hang up fast enough.

"Good. See you later."

"Yeah... Good night."

Penny switched her phone off, and snuggled back into her warm and comfy bed, and fell asleep not a minute later.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, hotel restaurant, 9.23 AM<em>

Sheldon and Amy sat at the table in silence. They were hungry, but too polite to order without Raj and Emily. Well, Amy was too polite. Sheldon didn't understand why he had to starve, just because the others apparently couldn't read the time. But Amy insisted, since they were only here because Emily was so kind to invite them. Finally they saw their friends enter the restaurant. Amy found them so cute, as she watched them holding hands, giggling, and exchanging small pecks. Sheldon just found them torturing slow.

"Good morning, Amy. Sheldon." Emily greeting them, as she sat down.

"Good morning, Rajesh. Good morning, Emily." Amy replied.

"Good morning. Isn't it wonderful here?" Raj said, as he looked around and back to his girlfriend. Both beamed at each other, obviously in a great mood. Amy found that very adorable. Sheldon found it very inappropriate, since they kept them waiting for so long.

"You're late. And how is it wonderful that we are snowed in, and trapped with a cult of 'happy' people?! As soon as I got out of the elevator, another man came up and hugged me!"

It was simply horrendous, Sheldon shivered a little by the memory of the man's arms wrapped around him. He was huge and big, and Sheldon felt like being crushed. He screamed. Like a little girl. Amy wasn't of much help this time, as she was still upstairs. She kicked him out, because she had to take care of 'lady things'. Probably an euphemism for defecation.

"It's romantic here, Sheldon. And there's nothing wrong with hugging." Raj said, and when he once again saw the disagreeing faces, he added: "And this world would be a better place, would we all hug each other more-"

Sheldon wasn't having any of this nonsense: "Pfft. That's not romantic. Romantic would be to stay at home, to have the correct breakfast for a Saturday _on time,_ to do the laundry as it's supposed to be, to maybe watch a nice adventure movie, and to have the usual Saturday take out." When he noticed Amy's deprecating stare (he found out that furrowed eyebrows are a pretty solid sign), he added. "_Or_ being here, exhiled from civilization, with a crowd of hippies, who can't get enough of molesting me... And why's my plate still empty?" He asked, and searched for the apparently nonexistent waiter.

"Well, I have to say Raj, I kinda find these people annoying too. It's okay, if they want to celebrate their emotions or whatever, but I found the hug from that lady earlier a bit too handsy." Emily said, wrinkling her nose when she thought about the unpleasant encounter.

"Not to forget yesterday at dinner. If I have to hear just one more time, that I should attend the 'How to break through intimacy blockages'-seminar, I might shoot someone." Amy declared. Although she wondered, if people would still say that to her after what happened tonight.

"Anyhow. I think we all, minus Raj, agree that this is vexatious. And since we can't leave the hotel, we have to decide, what to do." Emily said, and right this moment remembered the brochure she read yesterday. "They have a spa." She added, and looked quizzical at Amy. She wasn't sure, if her fairly new friend was into massages, manicures, pedicures and the likes. She definitely wasn't into shopping. "I could use a massage."

"I can give you a massage..." Raj whispered teasingly, which made her forget about the spa immediately. He leaned over, and put his hands on her face. Just the second before he was about to kiss her, he heard his friend say:

"Please. Could you stop that?" Sheldon looked extremely miffed. But Raj didn't care. He was going to put oil on his lady's fabulous body, and give her the best massage she _ever_ got. Where was the damn waiter?!

"I would like a massage. I think, I'm going." Amy said, much to Sheldon's surprise and disapproval.

"And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" He asked her.

"Sheldon, you always say that you value your 'me time' so much. So I'm sure, you can easily keep yourself occupied for an hour or so."

"How? The TV is off, there's no wi-fi, no nothing." He complained.

Raj suddenly had a great idea. Maybe, he thought, that conference was a blessing in disguise. "You know, if you all would be just a little bit more open minded, we could attend one of the workshops."

"You're kidding, right? Tell me, you're joking." Surprisingly it wasn't Sheldon, but his girlfriend who said that. But his friend nodded vigorously.

"No I'm not joking. I think for a successful relationship it is necessary to be honest and in touch with your inner workings. Like why you and Amy aren't having sex even after so many years. You love her, she loves you and yet-"

"Rajesh, I appreciate your concern. But Sheldon and I are perfectly in sync with our 'inner workings'. We most certainly do not need some love guru to poke his nosy nose into our relationship." Amy cut him short.

Sheldon turned around, and said with a loving smile that warmed her heart: "Thank you, Amy."

"I don't want to go either, Raj. I find these things to be poppycock." Emily said, looking apologetic to her boyfriend.

"You're all so ignorant. I was at couples therapy before, and I'm telling you it helps." Raj declared.

"With whom have you been to couples therapy?" Emily asked. As far as she knew, she was his first real longterm girlfriend. Did he forget to mention someone?

"With Howard... We had a rough time a few years ago... I don't really want to go into it... It still hurts." Emily tried not to grin, when she saw Raj's face.

"Oh, poor baby... But do you think we already need therapy?"

"No. Of course not. No one is as happy, as we are." He answered, caressing her hand with his thumb.

Pfft! Sheldon thought. No one? _Please._

"I beg to differ. Amy and I are the happiest couple." He stated matter-of-factly. There was no question about that after all.

"Really?" Raj replied, clearly questioning that very much.

"Really."

"Prove it."

"Excuse me?"

"We go to this workshop here 'Oxygen for your relationship. How to create a fully healthy partnership', and the couple who succeeds best, wins." Raj declared.

"That's just... Excuse my ordinary wording, that's just complete bs." Sheldon usually didn't like using four letter words, but seriously, what the heck was his friend thinking?!

"Are you chickening out?"

Emily wasn't so sure about this herself, and she leaned over to Raj and said in a low voice: "Raj, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?! Don't you have faith in us?" He couldn't believe it. His own duckling!

"Of course I do. But they know each other much longer."

Please, he thought, as if that would matter. "Time is of no relevance, when it comes to true love... So, Sheldon. Are you up to the challenge?"

That'll be a piece of cake, Sheldon figured. And another opportunity to prove their superiority. "We're in."

"Sheldon!" Amy shouted out, and punched his arm.

"What now?" Seriously, what's up with that woman? Here he was, ready to prove once again how much better their relationship was, and she hit him!

"I wanted to get a massage!"

Dream on little lady, Sheldon thought dismissively. "First, you're not getting a massage by some creep that touches you all over." To make his point more clear, he waved his hand up and down Amy's body, with his eyes following. "And second", he went on once they found her face again, "don't you want to defend our honour?"

"Uhm... Proposal. I join you to kick their asses, if I get a massage from you." Amy thought, she obviously was pushing her luck now. No way, Sheldon would agree to that. And that would be alright. She already got cuddling in bed, and french kissing, and him touching her boobs. But to her surprise, the instant reply was: "Deal."

Sheldon thought what a lucky guy he was. Not only did he get to french kiss his girlfriend, he could also grope her boobies, and now he would even get to see her naked. Or nakedish. Depending on how that massage business worked. Which he had no idea, but he was all for finding out. Although, he thought, maybe he should take a good nap instead, as he clearly was sleep deprived. Could be, he thought, as the shocked faces staring back at him made it somewhat clear that what he just said seemed to be... He didn't know, but something apparently.

"Whaaaaaat?!" Raj said, after he found his voice again.

"Yes, Rajesh. You heard right." Amy said, beyond excited and as motivated as one could be: "We're going to crush you!" She called out, never taking her eyes off her sexy cuddles.

"We so will!" Sheldon declared to his dumbstruck friend, who in return started to doubt that his idea was such a good one after all.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 11.47 AM<em>

Leonard was still sitting at his desk, and for the last hours he called dozens of restaurants in the greater Los Angeles region. But he had no luck, and he had enough of it. It was time to call the only person, who could save the day. He knew how much Howard despised the thought. On the other side, they wouldn't be in that situation would his friend have made the reservation as he promised to do to begin with.

"Did you make the call?" He blurted out instead of a proper greeting.

"Not yet." Howard answered with a low voice.

"Howard. You're killing me. Make the call! We have only 6 hours left!" This was indeed aggravating, and Leonard couldn't take it anymore. "My head hurts again... Penny said... Ah, there's the bag from the pharmacy."

He walked over to the couch, sat down and searched through the bag for the painkillers, but all he saw were condoms, and two strange bottles of funny looking pills. What are these for, he wondered. "Howard. I hate to say it, but you really need to- WHAT IS THAT?!"

"What happened?!"

"Oh, uhm... Nothing. I have to call you later."

Leonard just couldn't believe his eyes, as he stared at the pills. And for the next few hours, he did exactly that. He was in shock. Not one coherent thought could he make, except for a repeated "What the hell?! What the hell?! WHAT THE HELL?!"

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was a bit Shamy centric. I'm sorry. But the last episode offered some real good material that I just couldn't leave unmentioned. But don't worry, all couples will have their moments. :) <strong>


	4. Saturday, February the 14th (Part Two)

**SATURDAY, February the 14th (Part Two)**

_Pasadena, Beauty Parlor, 2.56 PM_

Bernadette and Penny sat in comfy chairs, and got a pedicure. For the last two hours they got their faces deep pore cleaned, their legs and other body parts waxed, their fingernails polished, and talked about everything that was currently going on in their lives.

"Did you set a date for your wedding?" Bernadette asked. "You're engaged for half a year now."

"I know, and no we haven't." Penny answered. She didn't really know why she was so hesitant to pick a date. She had successfully proven by now that she didn't get engaged because she got knocked up.

"What's the problem?" Her friend asked, and Penny really didn't have an answer.

"I don't know."

"Don't you want to get-"

"I do! No, that's not it." And when she saw the hint of a doubt on Bernadette's face, she added: "I know, I wasn't always sure about me and Leonard, but I am now. I love him, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him."

"Sooo?"

"I don't know... I honestly don't know." Penny wondered, and after a few moments she said: "Maybe we should start thinking about a date."

"Yeah, you should... Do you have an idea what kind of wedding dress you want?"

"An elegant one. You know, classy. Not the fluffy puffy things the brides wore at every family wedding I can remember."

"Do you want to get married in Nebraska?"

Penny wasn't sure about that. It wasn't that she felt ashamed of her family, and that no one had a PhD. She was just very certain, that both families wouldn't get along _at all._ Although, what did she know? She just met his mother. But she couldn't be more different from her own, and she suspected that it was the same with the rest of his family.

"I'm not sure... Maybe we should just have a small wedding here."

"Well, I loved our wedding on the roof." Bernadette said, and smiled dreamily by the memory of that wonderful day.

"Yes, it was great." Penny agreed. However, she didn't want to think any further about their families quite likely collision at the wedding. "So, Howard is still pissed that Raj didn't ask you to come with them to Aspen?".

"Yes, he complains the whole time. About how Raj doesn't have that much time anymore since he has a girlfriend... He's convinced, Emily still thinks of him as Clogzilla."

"Yeah... Who doesn't?" Penny mumbled under her breath, but her friend heard her all the same.

"_Anyhow_. I told him over and over again, that it wasn't Raj's choice to begin with. Emily got the trip, and she chose Amy."

That was actually something that bothered Penny for a while now. "I noticed, that they get along very well..."

"Who?"

"Amy and Emily."

"Are you jealous?"

"No!... Nooo... Maybe." Penny admitted. She really didn't like Emily. And she really didn't like the fact, that Amy apparently didn't feel the same. She also was aware, that both had a lot in common. She didn't mind that Bernadette and Amy shared interests too, that she couldn't care less about. But the difference was that she liked Bernadette. She _really_ didn't like Emily though.

"Awww... I'm sure, you have nothing to worry about. Amy would never dump you for another bestie." Bernadette said with a reassuring smile.

"You really think so?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, you're right... But she could've send a text at least." Seriously, Penny thought, usually there is nothing, really _nothing_, that Amy wouldn't tell her. And now she's in Aspen with that bitch, and she didn't even get one tiny text. She understood Howard feelings perfectly. Abandoned by your best friend just because of 'her', the mean friend-stealer.

"Do you know, in which restaurant we're going tonight?" Bernadette asked, out of honest curiosity, but also because she wanted to change the topic when she saw Penny's angry face.

"No. Leonard is acting like it's a secret of national importance."

After Penny got up around eleven she went over, hoping Leonard would be in a better mood, and finally in for a little fun time. But he sat at his desk, and when he saw her he hung up the phone so abruptly, as if he was trying to hide something. She asked if something was going on, which he denied vigorously. Nevertheless he stood up immediately, gave her a small peck, and basically shoved her out.

"Yeah, so is Howard. It must be something really spectacular."

When Bernadette woke up this morning, she was surprised to find her husband up and ready to leave. He said he had some more work to do. Before she could say or ask anything, he was already out the door.

"Yes, they probably want to do something extra nice, because we're not having such a romantic getaway like the others. Aspen would have been really cool." Penny said, and thought that such a trip was _so_ wasted on Sheldon.

"Yeah... But not with Sheldon, that's for sure." Bernadette replied, obviously thinking along the same lines. "I wonder what they're doing right now."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, hotel seminar room, 3.04 PM<em>

The room was flooded in warm light, low meditation music was playing in the background, and in the middle of the room stood a small water fountain. Sheldon's first instinct was to turn around right away. Amy and Emily found it to be _sooo_ cliché, and Raj was enthralled.

However, the men had points to prove, so Sheldon grabbed Amy's arm and dragged her to back of the room. Raj followed with Emily, and they made themselves comfortable on the cushions next to them. The guru himself came a few moments later, and held a lively speech about the beauty and spirituality of unconditional love, that enlightens the whole existence. Three of them found it just hilarious, and had a hard time to stay serious. Raj found it very inspiring, and he had hard time not to propose to Emily on the spot.

As the guru continued to explain the goal of this workshop, it dawned on Sheldon that there is no reliable way they could measure the success. This made him extremely uncomfortable. It was the worst anarchy! He leaned over to Raj and said: "This is utter nonsense. How are we supposed to decide who won, when all we're going to do is exercising 'sharing feelings' and 'building trust'?"

"Chickening out?"

"I'm not 'chickening out'. But-"

"Well, we just let the women decide who's happier in the end."

"Are you kidding!? I mean, I trust Amy. She would _never_ cheat, but what about Emily?"

"What's that supposed to mean?! You think that my Emily is a cheater?!"

"I don't know. That's my point."

A mortally offended Raj turned over to his girlfriend and said: "Emily. At the end you and Amy score your happiness from 1 to 10. And be honest."

"Of course, honey bear."

Sheldon just rolled his eyes and hissed to Amy: "No way, she won't cheat! You better be the happiest woman on this planet after this malarkey!"

"That's up to you, 'honey bear'. Make me." Amy retorted with a pretty amused smirk on her face. And Sheldon wondered if this was really going to be a piece of cake, as the hippie walked slowly through the room, and began to instruct the couples in a calm and low voice: "Face your partner and look him or her deep in the eye..."

This was so unbelievable embarrassing, Sheldon thought as his gaze went up to the ceiling. What kind of a scientist was he now?

"Sheldon, seriously? We're going to loose against that baby couple over there, just because you can't look at me?" Amy asked. And after some deep breaths, he lowered his head, and gazed into her eyes at last.

"I can look at you... I do all the time." he replied with his wonderful deep and low voice, that only Amy ever got to hear.

She smiled when she felt her heart drop into her stomach as his magnificent blue eyes burned into hers. She loved when that happened. "Yes, you do."

"Now, please take your partners hands in yours..."

"And now we have to hold hands?!... Still not a fan..."

Even after all the touching tonight?, she wondered. But without much further ado he took her hands in his, and Amy melted a little bit more as he stroked hers softly with his thumb. Not a fan, huh?

"And now tell your partner, why it is important to you to have her or him in your life."

Oho! That's perfect, Amy thought excited. Just what she _always_ wanted to know!

"Do you want to start, Sheldon?" She asked with an encouraging smile.

"Uhm... Okay."

Next to them Emily and Raj where enjoying themselves as well. Maybe even a bit too much. They were completely lost in each others eyes, and their hand holding had quickly evolved into extensive caressing their arms and knees and upper legs.

"What did he say?" Emily whispered.

"Uhm... Something about something being important... I think..." Damn! Raj thought, as he broke the captivating connection, and looked over at Sheldon and Amy, who seemed to follow the instructions perfectly. Amy looked very happy as she listened to whatever it was that Sheldon, who looked equally happy, was saying to her. Just as Raj tried to come up with a way to find out what they were supposed to do, without letting Sheldon notice it, the guru approached them.

"I can see that you two seem to be lost. But don't worry. It is the first step for creating a healthy relationship to admit that you're having communication issues."

"No! No, we don't have any communication issues at all!" Raj exclaimed and hoped, no one would listen to them. Sheldon and Amy though didn't seem to take notice of anything around them.

"No need to get defensive. All the couples here today want to work on their problems... Well, except for these two lovebirds here. They seem to be perfectly able to share why they are important to each other... How wonderful." He said with a nod to their friends. Oh! That's what they were supposed to do, Raj and Emily thought at the same time and smiled at each other. Easy!

"Thank you, but we don't need your help. We weren't listening to what you said earlier. That's all. We have no troubles _whatsoever_ to share why we are important to each other as well." Raj declared, and hoped the guru would leave them now. The master himself didn't seem too pleased to hear that his words of wisdom weren't appreciated the way they most certainly deserved.

"Alright. But if you need assistance, that's what I'm here for."

"Yes, thank you. But no, no need."

As he walked away, Raj gazed deeply into Emily's eyes and took her hands once more into his and began to say: "Emily..."

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 3.28 PM<em>

An exhausted Howard came back home. He made the call around noon, just as he promised Leonard he would. Afterwards he drove home to rest a little bit, as he knew his wife would be out with Penny. He sincerely hoped Bernadette wouldn't be too mad with him. But then, she probably wouldn't be, as Bernadette wouldn't have such a big problem with this as he had, he thought as he entered the bedroom. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the new dress hanging there. She bought a new one for Valentine's Dinner?!, he noticed shocked. Damn! She was expecting something special tonight after all, he realized. He abandoned the idea of taking a nap and left the apartment again. Now he was completely spent. All he wanted was to sleep and never wake up. But he needed to speak with Leonard first, whom he couldn't reach for the last hours. He tried again, and finally his friend picked up.

"Hey, there you are. What's going on?"

"Uhm... Nothing, nothing."

"Really? You sound a bit upset."

"No, no. I'm alright... Did you make the call?"

"Yes. I did." His heard a relieved sigh on the other side of the line.

"How do we make it look like, that this is what we planned all along?" Leonard asked a good question. And Howard had the answer.

"We can't. Bernadette will see right through that. I went to the jewelry store, and bought her a spectacular piece of shiny stones to ease her mood." He said, looking at the small bag in front of him, that cost him most of his allowance for the next months.

"'Great'. And what do I do? I got nothing, because I was busy calling restaurants the whole damn day yesterday... Well, I just put the blame on you. It is your fault to begin with."

"What a great friend you are..." Howard said offended, even though he knew Leonard had a point. "You could've gotten her something earlier today, and if you hurry up, you can still go to the mall."

"Ugh! What a disaster the day is. I never thought I'd say this, but Sheldon has a point. Valentine's Day sucks! Invented only to make men suffer!" Leonard called out, clearly frustrated. And clearly not wrong, Howard thought in agreement.

"Yeah... As if we wouldn't already crawl on our knees begging for forgiveness for whatever idiotic things the rest of the year... Okay, see you in the restaurant then. I'll text you the address."

"Alright. Bye."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, hotel seminar room, 3.31 PM<em>

"Say it again." Amy whispered.

"It's your turn now." Sheldon whispered back.

"Please?" She begged and pursed her lips the best she could.

How could he deny her when she looked at him like that?, Sheldon asked himself and wondered when exactly he became so willing to share his feelings. Must be the love thing again.

"Amy, as I have said, it is important for me to have you in my life, because you're the only one who truly understands and accepts me for who I am. Before I met you, I was always alone. Even in the company of other people. For the longest time, I preferred being by myself. But now I like being with you more. I know I won't be as happy alone as I am with you. I find being in the presence of your equally exceptional intellect always highly stimulating. And I do find myself missing it when you're not around..."

"Awww..."

"Stop that. You know I'm not finished yet... And also, you're important to me, just because I love you."

"I love you too." Amy said, her eyes a little more shiny as usual and beaming once again in contented happiness at him.

"Why am I important to you?" He asked.

"For all the same reasons." She answered, which pleased him enormously.

"I know. Which is why we got an 8.2 in that test. No one is as perfect for each other as we are." He stated matter-of-factly.

Amy nodded, and after a second she declared: "You know, I don't need this."

"What?"

"To prove that we're happy. What does it matter if they believe it or not. We know we are." Actually Amy had a much better idea how they could use their time. "Why don't we go upstairs for a stimulating nap?" She asked, and watched has he processed the question. She knew he got it, when his eyes widened, and he leaned a bit forward before he stuttered: "Amy... Is that... uhm... code for... cuddling in _bed_?"

"Well... What do you say?" She knew he's in when a small smile appeared on his face.

"I am indeed very tired."

And with that both jumped up from the ground, and hurried towards the door.

"Hey! Where are you two going?" Raj called after them in a supressed voice, so that he wouldn't disturb the other participants.

"Uhm... We're taking a nap... We're tired." Amy answered.

"Yes. Very, very tired." Sheldon confirmed.

"Does that mean you give up?" Raj asked with a smile of a winner plastered on his face.

"Uhm... Well..." Admitting defeat?! But wait!, Sheldon remembered relieved: "Of course not. We won anyway. You didn't even manage to accomplish the first task without help. You should really continue to work on your relationship. Maybe one day you'll be as happy as we are." And when he looked at his girlfriend waiting impatiently at the door, he added tersely: "Gotta go, a genius needs his sleep!"

Emily watched the scene with amusement. No way, these two were tired. But her honey-bun was about to say something, and she really wanted to hear it. "So, you were saying?"

"Huh? Oh yes... Emily, you are important to me, because just like the flower can't bloom without the sun, I can't live without your love." As she listened to his beautiful words in his beautiful voice, she thought that maybe Sheldon and Amy had a good idea. "Just like the moon-"

"You know, I'm pretty tired too..." She cut him short.

"Yeah, now that you're mentioning it..."

"Let's go!"

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Penny's apartment, 3.49 PM<em>

The two women sat on the couch, feet on the table, heads leaned back, and eyes closed. They planned to take a look into Penny's wardrobe to pick out a dress for tonight, but they just couldn't get up. They felt simply heavenly relaxed.

"Did you get a gift for Leonard?" Bernadette asked after a long silence, still with her eyes closed.

"I did. I asked Stuart to get him a really rare edition of one of his favorite comics. Did you know, that these really cost a fortune? It's crazy." Penny told her.

"If I think about how much money we could already have saved for the house, if Howard wouldn't spend so much on his fantasy thingys... But anyway, I got him a special edition set of his favorite TV show. 'Battlestar Galactica'."

At this Penny's eyes popped open, and looked curious at her friend. Why would Bernadette buy Howard that? Didn't she know?, she wondered.

"Uhm... You do know that the reason it's his favorite is that chick in it, right?" She asked and Bernadette sat straight up immediately.

"Huh? What chick?"

"I don't know her name, but Leonard told me that Howard had a pretty longterm relationship with her... Only in his head, of course." She thought back at how creepy Howard used to be, before he met Bernadette. And how utterly delusional. She couldn't help but to giggle.

"Oh. I did not know that... What's funny?" Bernadette asked, getting more and more suspicious. Was it another disturbing story of her husbands doings?

Penny suspected that it probably wasn't a good idea to tell her. "No, nothing..."

"Tell me." Her friend ordered.

On the other side though, all of that happened years ago. What harm could be done with telling her now? "Uhm... Okay. But you haven't heard it from me, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. So what is it?"

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 3.51 PM<em>

Amy sat on the bed for the last ten minutes, and watched her boyfriend standing in front of the drawer. It was getting ridiculous.

"Sheldon, if you keep standing there, we have to get ready for dinner already. And you owe me a massage!"

He turned around and replied: "But Amy. I just don't know what to do. I can't decide which pajamas to wear now. The one for Saturday or the one for Friday? But it's not Saturday night yet, and it's not Friday anymore either." He explained his current dilemma.

"Why don't you just wear none at all?" Amy offered, not that selfless as she hoped it would sound.

"What?! You want to cuddle _naked_?" He called out, and wondered instantly why he sounded so keyed up. Wasn't this his plan all along? To get Amy naked_ -ish_ at least? But at the same time, he wasn't ready to show her all that is Dr. Cooper.

"Nooo." Amy lied. "Why don't you just wear your underwear... and a t-shirt... if you must? I've seen you in your undies many many times already. You're not shy to drop your pants in front of people."

Hmmm, he thought, was that really such a good idea? But on the other hand, why would it be a bad idea?

Amy really wanted to get into bed with her cuddles, so she decided to take matters in her own hands. She stood up, unbuttoned her cardigan and took it off. Alright, she thought, one down, many more to come. When she had only her undershirt on, she began to open her skirt, and sincerely hoped that at some point Sheldon would take off his clothes as well. But he just stood there staring.

Cuddles thought that he was supposed to do something, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what. She was only in her underwear now, he realized as he watched her walking over to the bed and getting in. Oh yes!, he remembered. And in no time he took off every unnecessary clothing before he joined her under the blanket. The last thought Sheldon had for the next hours was that her cute giggle was the most seducing sound he _ever_ heard.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's Room, 3.52 PM<em>

The two lovers laid next two each other, both panted heavily, as they tried to catch some much need air.

"That was amazing... Fast, but amazing!" Emily gasped.

Hmmm, Raj thought, "fast" didn't sound too good. Was that a complaint?

"Too fast?" He asked, not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

"Nooo..." His girlfriend replied, and he found, it didn't sound convincing at all.

"It was! Oh my god! That never happened!" He wished, that would be true. But it really never happened with Emily.

"Please, don't be upset. It was amazing!"

She turned around to face him, and laid her hand on his chest, stroking him softly.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better." Raj was positively upset about this.

"No. You are the best lover I ever had." He was, Emily thought, he _really_ was.

"Really?"

"Yes! I mean, it's like you have secret knowledge of the female body. You know things that even I didn't know possible before."

She learned a lot about all sorts of erotic things one can do since she met Raj. Although, she never suspected it at first. But with time he got better and better. Sometimes she was caught walking around with blushed cheeks the whole day, just because she couldn't stop thinking about the fabulous time she had with her boyfriend the night before.

"I do know... I'm an indian sex god after all!" Raj exclaimed, obviously very pleased with himself.

"You are. You really are."

"In for another round?" He asked, as he rolled over, pushed her down on the mattress, and hovered his head about hers with a seductive smile. This always made her heart jump.

"I am... I so am!"

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 6.58 PM<em>

After Leonard spoke with Howard, he thought about going to the mall to buy a gift for Penny. But then he saw the pills again, and wasn't in the mood to leave the apartment at all. He would just explain to her what happened, and they both could blame Howard. He forgot about the gift and Valentine's Day altogether soon, and instead spent the last hours researching. Effects, side effects, things like that. He needed to be prepared. He almost forgot the time, and just as he was about to get under the shower, his phone rang. It was his best buddy, who probably had a much better time than he. Despite being snowed in, trapped with hippies, and stuck in a room with his girlfriend.

"Hi Sheldon, how it's going?"

"Quite good. It is not as bad as I thought it would be." Leonard was quite surprised by his pretty cheerful tone. Aha, he thought, is there something going on? He sure as hell had some serious things to worry about, but nonetheless he was curious. Also, if he had some good tidbits to share with his friends, it might lighten up the mood later.

"How are things with Amy? I heard you have to share a room." He asked nonchalantly. Sheldon didn't say anything for a few moments, which Leonard found suspicious. If nothing would go on, his friend would have dismissed him immediately, wouldn't he?

"Oh. That already made the round, I guess. You people must have boring lifes, if that's the news of the day. But on the other hand, I don't blame you. Amy and I are the most interesting persons you know."

Something is going on, Leonard figured. But Sheldon wouldn't spill the beans easily. "Yeah, yeah... So, did you sleep in the same bed, or did you make her take the couch?"

"Well, I am a gentleman. I would never ask a lady to sleep on the couch."

That wasn't an answer, and also not true. Leonard thought for moment, that he really shouldn't question his friend about this. He knew, Sheldon didn't care about sharing too personal information. However, when he remembered the many, many, _many_ unwanted comments he had to hear over the years about his relationships, Leonard decided, that Sheldon would just have to suck it.

"So, does that mean you do share the bed? Or are _you_ sleeping on the couch?"

He heard a deep and slightly annoyed sigh at the other end of the line. Aha! He thought again.

"If you must know. No one is sleeping on the couch."

This was getting interesting, and Leonard forgot for a few moments his own troubles.

"Aaand?"

"And what?"

"Well, did something happen in that bed?"

"We slept in it."

"That's not what I mean."

"I don't know what you mean... And whatever it is you mean, is none of your business." Sheldon declared. Leonard didn't need to hear more anyway. He was sure that something did happen between them, and Penny would be over the top delighted when he would tell her later.

"Okay. I get it... You really sound like you're having a good time."

"Surprisingly, I really do... You know, I'd never thought I'd say this. But I think you and Raj might be right after all. Valentine's Day is a nice day to spent with the person you care about the most."

The world must come to an end, Leonard thought. "Awww. What a romantic you are."

"No need to get insulting... Well, I have to go. We're meeting Raj and Emily for dinner. I have to get ready."

"Yeah, me too. Have fun."

"You too."

"Well, I kinda doubt I will. But thanks anyway."

"I'd ask what's troubling you, but I don't have time and I don't want to ruin my good mood. Goodbye."

"Bye."

So Sheldon had the time of his life in Aspen, and he's here preparing himself for what will certainly be unpleasant at best, Leonard thought, sighing deeply as he stepped under the shower.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading and for the reviews! I hope, you liked this chapter. I said in the beginning, I suck in writing fluff. I hope though, it is clear that Sheldon spoke from the heart. And not only because he wanted to win the competition! :)<br>**

**Next one: finally Valentine's Dinner!**


	5. Saturday, February the 14th (Part Three)

**SATURDAY, February the 14th (Part Three)**

_Pasadena, restaurant, 8:03 PM_

The two couples met at the reception desk of the restaurant, and as they looked around they noticed some disturbing details. The tapestry seemed to be quite old and even lose at some places. The carpet had seen much better times as well, probably around the 1960s. And the hostess seemed to be less than happy to see people in general.

"Good evening." She said with a forced smile. "Your name?"

Howard looked at Bernadette apologetically. He told her on the way what happened and how they ended up here. She was disappointed, but tried to hide it. "Uhm... Four people for Bloom, Stuart."

"Ah yes. Follow me."

Leonard and Penny followed them. When he confessed, she wasn't angry. She even said he clearly suffered enough the last day. _'All was good'_, he thought relieved. _'Well, except for the pills'._

The couples approached the table where Stuart and his date where already sitting.

"Good evening, Stuart. Jeanie." Bernadette said, with a fake smile plastered on her face. The new dress she wore was definitely the fanciest thing in this place. _'What a waste'_ she thought.

"Hello my friends. Nice of you to join us." Stuart greeted his friends delighted.

"Yeah, yeah..." Howard replied. He definitely didn't find it nice.

"Howard. Behave. It's on you, that we're here." Bernadette whispered.

At the other side of the table Penny and Leonard were taking their seats. Even though he did before, he felt the urge to apologize again. "Penny, I know this isn't what you expected. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's all right. Really. Let's just get this over with and go home. With Sheldon gone, we should finally start to enjoy the time and space." She said with an enticing smile.

'_She really couldn't wait to get things started, could she?' _Leonard thought as he began to feel nervous "Ohhh... I see..."

"What?" She asked.

"Just that I got your message. Loud and clear."

"Huh? What message?"

'_Why would she play clueless now?_' he wondered, but this was not the place to get into this further. "Let's not talk about this here."

"Okay..." Penny replied, a bit puzzled.

While the others were looking at the menus, Howard looked at the comic book store guy and his cousin. He was pissed to see them together. Not because he had some unhealthy feelings left for his cousin, but because of Stuart. He really wasn't a fan lately.

"So, are you two officially dating now?" He asked, his disapproval very evident.

"Well, no. We haven't been out since Prom night. But I thought we had a good time... mostly. So I called her if she would be free for Valentine's Day." Stuart answered before throwing a glance at his date, who nodded and gave him a little smile.

Howard wanted to throw up. "Well, isn't that nice." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Howard..." Bernadette hissed another warning.

Just then the waiter, who looked like he also was having the worst time of his life, came by. "Have you decided yet?"

Not that he knew if the others had, but Howard answered anyway. "Yes. First and foremost, I have a beer. And the number 34. And make it fast." He ordered.

"Howard!" Bernadette called out.

This was going to be a long evening.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, hotel restaurant, 8.26 PM<em>

Once again, Sheldon and Amy sat at their table, waiting and starving. He was ready to order, but again, Amy forbid them to start without Raj and Emily. As with earlier, Sheldon didn't understand why he had to suffer.

"What's so difficult to be on time?! Are they really too stupid to read the watch?"

"They're probably busy." Amy replied, and looked knowingly at him.

For the first time she wasn't even in the slightest jealous about other people's doings in the bedroom, thanks to having her own bedroom story now. She shivered as she remembered his miraculous hands giving her such a wonderful massage. She had no doubt every woman on this planet would go down her knees in awe.

"With what?" Sheldon asked, clueless as usual.

"Napping." She answered before she raised her eyebrows.

"We _'napped'_ and yet we're punctual." He replied. Bedroom activities of any kind are no reason whatsoever to let other people wait, especially him as his time was obviously most precious. After a few more moments he whined. "I'm hungry."

"I know. Me too." Amy said patting his hand. She really wished the others would show up soon. She would very much liked to continue their _'stimulating nap'_.

Unbeknownst to Amy, Sheldon thought along the same lines. As hungry as he was, he also was pretty eager to return to their room. He shivered a bit when he remembered her miraculous soft skin under his hands.

"Besides" He began to say with a low voice. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner..."

He waited for a moment, but when she merely looked at him with widened eyes, he added, heavy with meaning. "Aren't you still a bit tired... and tense?"

"I am... I really _so_ am..." She giggled and her cheeks turned into the color of deep red, just from the fact that Sheldon wanted to get her back into bed.

With every second that passed, Sheldon was more and more annoyed. He really wasn't in the mood to sit through a surely awfully long dinner when they could already be upstairs again. As he was conducting a plan to shorten the dinner, he saw their friends approaching them.

"There they are! Finally!" Amy called out.

"Sorry, we're late. We got uhm..." Emily began to say.

Sheldon interrupted her. "Yes we know. You were busy engaging in intercourse."

Valuable time was already wasted enough the physicist figured as he continued to speak. "But too bad for you because you have to eat alone now. Amy and I waited and waited until we got _so_ tired again from starving. We'll go upstairs instead and order something from room service before we go to... nap... early."

He stood up, grabbed a stunned Amy's arm, and pulled her from her seat. "Good evening to you. Amy, chop chop."

"Hoo..." Amy said before the two left the restaurant in a hurry.

Raj and Emily looked after them, not sure what just happened. After a moment Raj said. "Room service... That's actually a pretty good idea, isn't it?"

Emily already took a few steps back to the exit. "Chop chop, my Indian sex god."

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, the not so fancy restaurant, 8.47 PM<em>

Everyone was busy with eating, or more accurately, picking their forks through the contents on their plates. Neither, except Stuart, was sure if it would be safe to actually eat.

Howard, who already had a few too many beers, asked sarcastically. "Well, this is nice. How did you know about this place, Stuart?"

Stuart, who looked a bit embarrassed, answered. "Well, I saw it the other day when I came back from the blood donation place around the corner."

"Ah ha! Don't you enjoy your food, Jeanie?" Howard asked.

Bernadette could hit him as he was just mean now. If he would continue to drink at that pace, this evening would not improve at all. "Howard..." She said, another warning.

"What? You think too that it's not okay that he's dating her! You said so yourself at Prom night."

"But what's the point in making a big fuss out of it again? There's nothing you can do anyway." She replied.

It was then a quite sad looking Stuart said. "I just want what all of you have. To be honest, it's been a while since I at least kissed someone."

Instantly Howard jumped up from his chair and walked over to Stuart. "Well, if that's what you're after. Here!"

Suddenly, he bent down and planted his lips on him while the rest of them just watched completely stunned. After a few seconds, with the whole restaurant staring at their table now, Howard let go of Stuart and sat back down before he gulped down the rest of his beer.

"HOWARD!" Bernadette yelled, accompanied with a slap on the back of his head.

"Woohoo!" Penny called out, with a huge amused grin.

"Wow!" Leonard commented, also grinning.

"Uhm..." Jeanie said when she saw Stuart's not so unpleased face.

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's room, 8.48 PM<em>

It didn't take long for the two of them to get rid of their clothes and make themselves comfortable in bed again. They studied the menu for room service for a few minutes.

"We just order everything. That way I can eat it all off your delicious body..." He declared before he began to put small pecks of her neck.

"Raj!" Emily called out, pretending to be scandalized.

"Well, I can't help it..." He said, pretending to be apologetic while continuing his endearment.

After the delivery they disappeared under the sheets for the next couple of hours and had the most delicious Valentine's Day dinner they ever had!

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 8.58 PM<em>

They sat on the couch finishing their sandwiches. Sheldon insisted on ordering a quick dinner, but was surprised at Amy's choice of dessert.

"Why did you want to order strawberries with whip cream?" Sheldon asked. He was disappointed when Amy didn't want brownies because he found them much better. More than anything, he wanted to eat a brownie now... or to taste the brownie on Amy's lips after she ate hers. He always loved that.

"Well, we could... You know, spice up our napping time..." Amy said as she looked up at him with that coquettish smile she had a lot on her face this day.

Sheldon was confused, but that all changed when he watched Amy eating the strawberry in an unnatural slow, but somehow very captivating way. It was then he realized that he could live without the brownie, but how would that _'spice up'_ their napping exactly?

"What does that mean, Amy?"

"Well, we could lick the whip cream off each othe-"

She couldn't even finish the sentence as Sheldon jumped up and stared at her in utter shock. "Have you lost your mind?! That is the most unsanitary thing I ever heard!"

"First of all, it's not unsanitary since we showered an hour ago." Amy said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him back down on the couch again. "Second of all, it's what people who engage in napping do all the time."

"Just because-"

Before Sheldon knew what was happening, she had a finger covered in whip cream and put a bit of it on his earlobe. The next thing he felt was how Amy licked it off and he was convinced that this was indeed the best idea his brilliant girlfriend ever had.

"I like strawberries. They're so fruity." He whispered.

"They are." She whispered back.

Not two minutes later they were in bed. For the next couple of hours they were busy with their strawberries and whip cream. It was the most delicious Valentine's Day dessert they ever had!

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, the cheap restaurant, 9.24 PM<em>

It got quiet at the table after the kiss incident as everyone finally ate their food. When done, Penny decided it would be a good time to lighten up the mood. Leonard looked ashamed when he took the gift from her and wished he would've gone to the mall after all. He unwrapped it and cried out in excitement.

"Wow! Penny. That's amazing!" After few more moments of examining the comic book, he added "Where did you get that? I didn't even look for it, since it was supposed to be unavailable on the market."

"Stuart helped of course." Penny told him, happy that her gift was such a success. '_Who was the romance ninja now?'_ she thought proud with herself.

"Pfft. Stuart." Howard commented unasked. He was positively more than tipsy as he just gulped down another beer in hopes to finally get rid of Stuart's taste.

"Howard. Give it a rest... Here's _your_ gift." Bernadette said before she slammed the present on the table. As she watched her husband unpacking it, she got more and more angry. He made a complete ass of himself and embarrassed her as well.

"Oh, the special edition of _'Battlestar Galactica.'_. Thank you, Honey. That's great."

When she saw the excitement on his face, she had enough. "I know. Now I understand why you always say how much you like that stupid show and why you're watching it in the middle of the night! I bought you your own personal porn!"

"Bernie..."

"Don't 'Bernie' me! I heard something really interesting today. So all those years ago, you actually had to make a decision between me and that whore?!"

"She isn't a whore. Starbuck is a great woman. You'd like her. She's strong and fearless."

"Please. Don't pretend that these are the reasons you're so into her. You used her for your perverted fantasies!"

"Well, perverted is a pretty strong word... But I have to admit, that the times I spent with Kara Trace were quite adventurous."

Howard turned towards the waiter. "Hey! Another one for me" He turned back to his wife.

"Where was I? Oh yes. She just knew how to get my motor running and she-"

Finally, he saw his tiny cute wife very close to explode and added quickly. "Anyway. Thanks for the great gift."

Bernadette just snorted at him_. 'He must be delusional if he thought she would allow him to keep it_ _after the asshat way he behaved tonight' …'_ She thought before taking the box out of his hands and put it away in her bag.

"Hey! What you're doing?!"

"You're not going to watch these. _Ever!_"

The other couples at the table watched the unpleasant scene with growing uneasiness.

Penny leaned over to Leonard and said in a low voice. "This is going to be ugly, Leonard. We should pay and go."

"How does she know about that anyway?" Leonard wondered.

"Uhm..."

"Penny!"

"She asked! What was I supposed to do?" She exclaimed as if she had no other choice than to tell her friend.

"Why would she possibly be asking about some actress and Howard's unhealthy obsession with her?"

"Uhm..."

"Penny!"

"Don't _'Penny' _me. I know, I shouldn't have said something. Come on, just let's go. You know, the time and space without Sheldon..."

She hoped that the prospect of sex would distract him from her blabbing out the unpleasant details of Howard's creepy past, Leonard surprisingly didn't seem too eager to leave.

"Ahh, yes. _That._" He said instead.

Penny was very confused now. "Don't you want to?"

"Well, how am I supposed to react to your not very subtle hint that I am not able to satisfy you?"

'_What hint, and who wasn't able to satisfy whom?' _ Penny thought more confused now. "Huh? What are you talking about? I'm satisfied. Almost every-"

"Ah ha! Almost!"

"Leonard. What do you mean?"

*/*/*/*

Across the table, things didn't improve either.

"So, what is it Howard? Do you regret the choice you made? Do you wish you had chosen her?!"

"She at least wasn't nagging at me constantly! She was-"

Bernadette looked away from him as he went on about the merits of his imaginary "girlfriend" and saw they became the attraction of the evening. "Let's not talk about this here." She cut him short.

*/*/*/*

"I really have to say, Penny, I don't know how to react to that."

"_What_ are you talking about? The whole evening you're acting strange."

'_What's the point in getting these pills in the first place, if she won't admit that she did?'_ Leonard thought. "Don't act so stupid!"

Penny went from being confused to being furious in less than a second. "Stupid?! Are you really calling me stupid now?! Ass!"

"No! I don't mean you! You know, I really don't think you're stupid. I mean, what you did and now pretending that you wouldn't know!"

"I really don't-"

"Why haven't you said earlier that I'm not good enough?! But like that? You even forgot to get my inhaler. So that's how important it is to you to improve my... stamina!"

_"What the hell are you talking about?!"_

"About the Viagra!"

Every single person in the restaurant started to listen to Leonard and Penny's fight.

"Ohhh... How embarrassing." Jeanie whispered to Stuart.

"Viagra? She bought him _Viagra_?! That seems a bit harsh...". He whispered back to her.

"Stuart, I want to go home. These people are crazy…and disturbing." Jeanie added after a moment.

"Yeah. If this is what they have I can easily live without it."

Stuart got up and assisted his date before turning to the others. "Okay... Uhm, guys. Jeanie and I are leaving now. Uhm... Enjoy... or something... the rest of the evening..."

Bernadette stopped him from leaving and said in all honesty. "I apologize Stuart. Not only for hijacking your reservation and most likely ruining a pleasant date, but also for Howard's behavior."

"And now you're apologizing for me?!" Howard couldn't believe his ears.

"Someone has to be the grown-up here, and you clearly aren't!" Bernadette retorted, not noticing that Stuart and his date left the restaurant in a hurry.

"Starbuck always accepted me for who I am. She never tried to change me-"

"Shut it!"

*/*/*/*

Penny was still dumbfounded. "I didn't get you Viagra. Why would you even think that?"

"Because it was in the bag from the pharmacy. What was I supposed to think?"

'_Huh?'_ She thought before she remembered. "Oh! I know! After I paid for your stuff, I bumped into an elderly man and both our bags dropped. We must have switched them by mistake."

Leonard felt like a ton of stones were lifted from his shoulders. "Oh. Oh! Ohhhhhhh... What a relief!"

"Now I understand your strange behavior today."

"Yeah... Sorry that I must have seemed off. I was really shocked."

Penny couldn't stop the laughter when she imagined the look on Leonard's face when he found the pills. She took his hand in hers. "I guarantee you that I'm perfectly happy and satisfied." She leaned over and gave him a tender kiss. "Should we go now? Let me show you how happy and satisfied I can be..."

This time Leonard wasn't hesitating a second. "Yeah." He replied and turned to Bernadette and Howard. "We're leaving as well."

Bernadette was already putting her jacket. "We're too. This was most likely the worst Valentine's Day ever! Thanks so much Howard!"

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's room, 10.43 PM<em>

The couple felt spent, but in a good way. After having satisfied each other in all sorts of ways, they were enjoying a bubble bath.

Raj however, had something on his mind. He had for a while, but didn't have the guts to tell her. But now, he thought, might be the right time. "Emily?"

"Yes?"

"I've been thinking."

"About?"

"Well, you know... You know, that with you working so much, we don't see each other that often. Definitely not as much as I would like to."

"I know, but you know my job-"

"No, that's not what I was getting at. I love that you love your job. I was more thinking about our living situation."

Raj watched as Emily pushed herself up, and looked at him with big eyes. _'Is that a good or a bad sign'_ he wondered.

"Are you asking me to move in together?"

"Well, I would make you dinner every evening when you get home. I'm a great housekeeper too. I would just love to take care of you... Every day." Raj hoped that these would be arguments working in his favor.

"Awww..."

He noticed relieved, that she was smiling now. "Is it too early? You know, my friends say, I'd have the tendency to rush things with the ladies. But I feel with you it is different. What do you say?"

"I say, screw the doubters! Just because they need years to get somewhere, doesn't mean we have to. I love you and I want to be with you every day too." She declared, crawling over to Raj side.

"Yay!"

"Happy Valentine's Day my sexy Prince Charming."

"Happy Valentine's Day, my little-dove."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 11.34 PM<em>

The bowl of whip cream was empty as the two lovebirds laid exhausted and panting next to each other.

"Wow! Sheldon. That was amazing!"

"It was!" Sheldon couldn't agree more.

Amy had to wonder. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Uhm... You know..." Sheldon didn't want to answer that.

"Are you blushing?!" Amy couldn't believe it. What was Sheldon doing when he was alone? Not that she was complaining. Oh no, not at all. "Tell me. How did you know about that?"

Sheldon figured that after what they just did, it would be kind of childish to make a big secret out of it. "Well, if you must know. Sometimes when I put certain words, completely unrelated words by the way, into the search engine... uhm... things show up... Definitely not the things I was looking for!... But, uhm... nevertheless interesting things all the same."

"I thank every nonexistent deity for Google!" Amy cried out, smiling bright at her boyfriend. She couldn't be happier. If making out was already so fabulous, what must actual coitus be like then? She wondered astounded.

Sheldon smiled back pleased with himself, but also feeling the urge to shower grow.

"I need a shower. That whip cream and the other... fluids are sticky. And I think there are a few strawberries in here as well. We have to call for housekeeping. I'm not going to sleep in that mess!"

He most definitely had a point Amy thought. "Okay, you shower first and I'll take care of that."

"Perfect."

As he was about to get out of the bed, Amy grabbed his arm, pulled him down for sweet chaste kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Sheldon smiled at her. "Happy Valentine's Day. So does that mean, I romantically satisfied you?"

"You _so_ did. Not only romantically and not only once..." She answered, giggling and blushing, and Sheldon never loved her more.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. I apologize for the delay. <strong>

**A very special thank you to mphs95 for beta reading this chapter. :-)**

**I didn't know about Mrs. Ws death, so I feel a bit guilty to make Howard such an ass here. ****There will be one more chapter, before this Valentine's Weekend is finally over and everyone is happy again. I hope you'll like it.  
><strong>


	6. Sunday, February the 15th

**SUNDAY, February 15****th**

_Pasadena Hospital ER, 5:26 AM_

Bernadette sat very frustrated in the quiet ER pondering how her already bad evening became worse in the span of a few hours.

*/*/*

First, on the way home, their argument on Howard's childish behavior escalated until Bernadette told him straight out that he was just jealous of Stuart and the good relationship he and his mother have as well as being afraid that the he would take his place in his mother's heart. Of course Howard denied this, which only made things worse as Bernadette exploded and told him to grow up and get over his snit with Stuart.

As if there wasn't enough for her to be annoyed about, Howard starting complaining again about Sheldon hanging out with Raj instead of him. Once again, she pointed out the fact that it was Emily's trip and up to her to ask who she wanted to accompany them. However, her intoxicated husband disagreed with everything she said. It was this that finally pushed her over the edge as she screamed at him to grow up and quit complaining.

By the time they got home, she finally had enough and left her drunken spouse on the couch.

Just as she finally fell asleep, Howard woke her up when he stumbled from the living room into the bathroom to throw up. As if hearing the sounds of her husband vomiting his questionable dinner and copious amounts of beer weren't enough, a few minutes later, she heard a muffled bang and him cry out.

Cursing, she got up, walked over, and saw him lying on the floor. He tripped and couldn't get up alone. After throwing on some clothes, she helped him up and to the car before driving to the hospital.

*/*/*

Bernadette came back to reality. Fighting with Howard was bad enough. However, waiting here for the last few hours among two children screaming from ear infections and four others with various injuries was the cherry on the crappiest Valentine's Day Ever Sundae.

She was just debating on whether to get more nasty hospital coffee when Howard entered the waiting room and hobbled over to her with an uncomfortable looking surgical shoe.

"How are you feeling?" Bernadette asked.

"Like shit." He answered truthfully.

"Let's go home."

The engineer merely nodded. As Bernadette began to clean up her area, his thoughts also wandered.

Sobriety came when he vomited earlier. However it wasn't until he was stuck in his ER cubicle with nothing to do for five hours but think about what she said that he realized that she had good points.

Howard's musings were interrupted by his wife calling his name. As she was standing up, he stopped her and looked her with big apologetic eyes.

"I'm so sorry for ruining the evening and for everything I said and did tonight. You were right about Stuart and my mom… and Raj. I didn't mean what I said about you nagging at me. I love you _so_ much. All those years ago I was a moron that every woman despised and rightfully so. You made me a better man and I'm so thankful that you didn't give up on me."

As she gazed at him, looking _so_ miserable, she felt her heart soften. "Awww. I love you too." She replied softly before she put her hands on his face to pull him in for a kiss.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 8.45 AM<em>

Penny woke up when she felt Leonard climbing out of the bed. She took a quick look at the clock and groaned at the time. "Come back to bed." She said in a whiny voice.

Leonard felt torn. On the one side he wanted to stay in bed with her, but on the other he didn't want to have to deal with a cranky Sheldon when he came home and the apartment wouldn't be as his highness wished.

His decision made, he sighed deeply. "I have to clean up the apartment before he comes back."

"Forget Sheldon for _once_! Come back and sleep in. It's Sunday for God's sake!"

"All right, but know I'm going to put the blame on you." Leonard said when he got back into bed.

"Whatever." Penny mumbled. As she was about to wrap her arm around him, he stood up once more. "What now?" She asked annoyed.

"I'm going to turn down the thermostat because the room temperature is too high."

"Ugh! You need to move out of here!"

"Tell me something I don't know."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Sheldon and Amy's room, 8.51 AM<em>

When Sheldon woke up, he thought he never slept as good as he did here.

He pondered the reason why, but when he turned around and saw Amy, it dawned upon him that it might have something to do with her lying at his side. As he watched her peacefully sleeping he felt an unfamiliar, but welcome feeling of ease with the whole world.

Realizing he didn't know what the time was, he looked at his watch and his eyes bulged out as his relaxation turned into anxiety. "Amy! Wake up!"

"What?" She mumbled without opening her eyes.

"It's almost nine o'clock! We overslept!"

To Sheldon's dismay, Amy didn't make a move to get up, but instead snuggled herself against him. "Just a few more minutes."

"No! We don't have a few more minutes!" Sheldon said as he tried to free himself from her tight embrace. "How could that have happened? I never overslept in my whole life!"

Finally, she let go of him and sat up with a pleased expression on her face. "Well, it might have had something to do with you waking me up at half past two… _again_, just because you couldn't sleep... _again_."

"Um... Anyhow. We have to get ready now." Sheldon declared

He stood up, walked over to the window, and peeked out through the curtain to be greeted with mountains of snow. "The weather doesn't look too good though."

* * *

><p><em>Aspen, Raj and Emily's room, 8.57 AM<em>

Raj woke up with a start from a recurring dream of where he was chased by cows. He looked around and saw to his relief he was back in Aspen. Once again, he vowed that he really would reduce his burger consumption.

When he looked at his watch he noticed that they were late. _Again._

"Wake up!" He called, jolting Emily awake.

"Huh?"

"We overslept." He said as he jumped out of the bed.

"When is the flight?" She said in a sleep heavy voice.

"At two o'clock."

Raj's distress caused Emily to wake up. "Oh, come on! We have enough time to get there in time."

She snuggled back into what she considered the most comfy place in the whole world. "Why don't you come back in here?"

Raj moved towards the window. "No. Sheldon wants to leave early and OH!"

He stopped speaking when he saw the copious amounts of snow that had fallen the night before. "The way it looks out there, we should check if the flight is still on at all."

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 11.36 AM<em>

Bernadette walked over from the kitchen to Howard, who was in pain from his broken toe but also nursing a wicked hangover. "Hey Honey. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Still shitty."

"Here, I made you some tea."

"Thanks."

Even though Bernadette didn't seem to be very angry anymore, Howard knew he had to and truly wanted to make more amends.

"Could you give me my jacket please? The one I wore at the restaurant."

Bernadette walked into the bedroom and a few moments later she came back with the jacket.

"Bernie, I know yesterday was a disaster and I'm truly sorry." He began, ready to continue his apology from the hospital.

Before he could, his wife interrupted him. "It's okay. It's just Valentine's Day. We'll have many more to come. Besides, it's much more important to make the other 364 days of the year happy ones."

As he saw her loving smile, he felt his heart melting. "I got you something." He said as he searched through the pockets of his jacket.

"You did?"

She looked at him with shiny excited eyes. When she saw the content of the box, she put her hand on her mouth in joyful surprise. "Wow. Howie, that's sooo beautiful."

"Just as you are."

She took out the piece of jewelry and held it around her neck. It looked spectacular.

"It must have cost a fortune." She said.

"Nah... Well... But I wanted to give you something that shows how much I love you."

She believed him, but wasn't a fool either. "...and ease my mood when I would find out about the messed up reservation." She half-heartedly retorted.

"Well..." He replied and smiled sheepishly at her.

"It's really amazing. Thank you, but I can't keep it." Bernadette finally declared, and put the necklace back into the box.

"What? Why?"

"I don't need fancy jewelry to know that you love me. We should put the money away instead for something we both can enjoy, like maybe a vacation for just the two of us. What do you say?"

Howard thought about it and agreed. "I'd like that."

"I love you, Howard."

"I love you too."

With a sweet kiss, all what happened the day before was forgiven and forgotten.

"Do you want to watch 'Battlestar Galactica'?" She asked him with a little teasing smile.

"Really?"

"Yes. I will even watch it with you."

"Bernie, there's nothing going on between me and Starbuck anymore. It's long in the past." He said as he put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, 12.57 PM<em>

Penny and Leonard sat in the living room and unpacked their lunch, continuing their wonderful morning. Just a few minutes ago, Sheldon called with news.

"So, they won't be arriving until sometime late at night?" Penny asked.

"No. The flight got canceled and they had to rent a car. They're already on the road." Leonard told her.

"Oh, they're going to have so much fun with the Shamy car games!" Penny called out, which made Leonard snicker. As amusing Penny found the thought, she also couldn't help but to feel a little annoyed by the fact that Amy would spend even more time with Emily now.

For the next few minutes they just ate their food and watched television. Leonard thought about the evening before and felt bad when he thought about his friends' fight.

"Did you hear from Bernadette?" he asked.

"No. Why?"

"Well, they really seemed to be in an awful place yesterday. I'm actually a bit worried."

"Nah. There was always bickering and fighting between the two of them. They'll be fine." Penny replied, but she wasn't really convinced either.

She also couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty that she might have something to do with it. _'Me and my big blabbermouth'_ she cursed herself.

"I'll call her." she said.

* * *

><p><em>On the road in Colorado 2:16 PM<em>

"How can that be the wrong answer?!" Raj asked flabbergasted and annoyed.

"Because I say so." Sheldon replied calm.

"And who made you the decider?" Raj asked from the backseat, even though he knew the answer beforehand.

"It's my game, so I decide."

"It's a stupid game."

Sheldon leaned over to his girlfriend and said in a low voice. "See. I told you it's no fun with them."

"Maybe you shouldn't be so strict." Amy offered in an attempt to lighten up the tense mood.

Sheldon couldn't believe his ears. "Rules are rules!"

Amy quickly looked at him before turning her eyes back to the road. "I'm just saying that this is going to be a long drive home. Should we sit in silence?"

"That wouldn't be so bad." Sheldon retorted miffed.

Emily, who didn't care that much about the game in the first place, thought it might be a good idea to change the topic. Just as luck had it, she had something great to tell.

"Hey Amy. Raj asked me to move in with him."

She was stunned as her boyfriend and Amy simultaneously jumped.

"Don't say that!" Amy yelled.

"Don't mention that!" Raj hollered.

"What? What did I say?" Emily asked very confused.

Raj leaned over and explained. "It's a sensitive topic around Sheldon."

"Hey! I'm right here!" Sheldon exclaimed.

"But it is." Raj said matter-of-factly.

"I think that's great." Amy finally said and smiled at them through the rear view mirror.

"Thank you." Emily replied, relieved that at least one seemed to think that this is good news.

Sheldon was still annoyed as he hated it when people spoke about him like he wasn't there. Whatever "issues" he might have had, obviously he wasn't having them now.

"First of all, the sensitive topic is Leonard moving out, not other people moving to whatever places. Second of all, I know what you're getting at. You think I'll freak out because it will make me think of the idea of Amy and me cohabitating. Guess what? I'm not."

"You're not?" Amy asked surprised.

"Do you see me flipping out now?"

"No... Actually you seem pretty cool... Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Let me feel your forehead, maybe you caught a cold..." She was positively worried now.

"Stop that, I'm all right." Sheldon said as he put her hand back on the wheel. "You should concentrate on driving."

Raj watched interested. After a while he asked: "So does that mean you want to live with Amy?"

"Rajesh!" Amy called out.

"He brought the topic up."

"Yeah he did." Emily chimed in helpfully.

Sheldon couldn't understand how he found himself talking about his living situation again. He knew though, that he had to be careful regarding this matter with his overly sensitive girlfriend.

After a minute, he began to speak. "Well..." He offered as an answer. To his annoyance, he realized that his brilliant mind wasn't up to speed since his clever girlfriend kept him awake most of the weekend. 'Vixen, indeed.' He thought to himself.

Meanwhile, his vixen in the driver's seat began to feel uncomfortable as this was not a topic she wanted to discuss here. "You don't have to answer that. I know, you're not-"

Apparently though, Sheldon had something more to say as he interrupted her: "I think we could start gradually."

"Huh? What exactly do you mean?" Amy asked, silently thanking Emily for bringing the topic up in the first place.

"I mean, you could come over on the nights Leonard is staying at Penny's." He said gazing at her with a cute smile.

"I'd like that." Amy replied as she beamed at her wonderful boyfriend, one of many times this weekend.

"Awww..." Emily and Raj said together.

"Quiet back there!" Sheldon yelled.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 4.56 PM<em>

Bernadette was about to begin to prepare dinner when she heard her phone ring. She rushed to her purse to avoid waking Howard, who fell asleep while they watched _'Battlestar Galactica'._.

With a low voice she answered. "Hello Penny."

"Why are you whispering?"

"Howard's sleeping. Wait. I'll go to the bedroom."

"Are you still fighting?"

Bernadette noticed the worry in her friend's voice. "No, we're good again. He was just really upset about the whole Stuart thing, plus it still bugged him that Raj went on that trip without him."

"How come that our men are much more touchy than we are?"

"Who knows, but it's a good thing that at least we are able to act rational." She answered after a few moments.

"Yeah..."

Bernadette looked at the watch and wondered why Raj hadn't called yet. "Is Sheldon back already?"

"No. The flight got canceled and they're driving home. They'll be back very late."

Bernadette picked up on the slightly noticeable gloomy tone Penny had. "What's wrong? Aren't you enjoying the extra Sheldon-free time?" She asked her.

"Oh no, we do... Or more accurately, we did."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that Leonard's cleaning the apartment now, even though I really cannot see _anything_ that needs to be cleaned to begin with. Besides that, he's checking his phone constantly and calls Sheldon for updates and whatnot."

"Why?"

"Sheldon is driving apparently and he's worried that he might kill them all by accident. Amy tried to calm him because they're on a basically empty highway, but Leonard is a mess."

Bernadette heard Penny sighing deeply and knew the feeling very well. Just last Friday was one of those days when Howard was a mess. "They most certainly love their best buddies."

"They do... I actually think it's sweet."

"It is, but I'm really glad that Raj found Emily."

"Yeah. Me too… I mean, I hate her. But I'm happy for Raj of course... I have to say, I'm pretty glad myself that things between Amy and Sheldon are so good lately. This way I can spend more quality time with Leonard."

"Ah, yes. By the way. Got any news on the room sharing thing?"

"Oh! How could I forgot?! Listen, you won't believe it!"

* * *

><p><em>On the road somewhere in Arizona, 6.51 PM <em>

Emily got behind the wheel as the four travelers left the restaurant they stopped at for dinner. Raj took the passenger seat, making an annoyed Sheldon squeeze himself into the back seat. Just when he was about to make another complaining remark Raj's phone beeped.

Raj read the text and after a few moments he called out. "Oh, poor Howard! He broke his toe."

"Uh, that's bad. Motrin 800 is going to be his best friend for the next few days." Emily said and felt honestly bad for her honeybun's best friend.

"He must feel awful." Amy said as she felt equally sorry for Howard.

Sheldon knew he should feel bad for the engineer. However, he was just too busy with trying to sit somewhat comfortably in the back seat.

"Yeah, but he wrote that it wasn't even the worst thing that happened yesterday." Raj said. "Apparently he and Bernadette had an awful Valentine's Day because they had a bad fight and the food was terrible where they had dinner."

"How unpleasant." Emily said, and after a moment she continued. "Good thing that the food in the hotel was superb. We ordered all sorts of nice things, but the best was the bowl of exotic fruits."

"We had fruits too!" Amy blurted out.

"Amy!"

Sheldon was mortified. He was aware that basically nothing in this circle of friends was considered private, but just the thought of sharing the details of what they did last night, was utterly frightening.

Amy, who didn't think about the implications of her words, replied. "All I said was that we had fruits too." But when she finally thought about last night's exciting events, she added smiling. "And it was delicious. Wasn't it?"

Sheldon wondered if something was wrong with his face, because this most certainly wasn't a moment to return the smile, but he did. Nevertheless he managed to say somewhat severe: "That's so not the point."

Raj listened with growing ears, and after a moment he asked in a mock innocent tone. "So I take it that your Valentine's Dinner was nice too?"

When he didn't get an answer, he turned his head around and asked excited. "Are you blushing?!"

"I don't blush. It's warm in here, that's all."

'_Lame'_, Raj thought. "Earlier you complained that it's cold. We even had to turn up the heater more..."

"…and now it's too warm."

"Nope, I don't think that's it. I think you're hiding something and I think it's something hot." Raj said grinning.

"Your imagination gets the better of you as usual." Sheldon stated, hoping his soon to be former friend would shut up now.

He had no such luck as Raj retorted. "I think, the reason you and Amy spent basically the whole weekend in your room, wasn't because you were oh so tired-"

"The flight was very exhausting. We needed to recover from that ordeal… Oh look! A deer caught in the headlights!" Sheldon shouted out as he stared out of the window.

"There's nothing." Raj said, and went on much to Sheldon's disgruntlement. "So it seems that you're imagining things, not me. Do you feel like a deer caught in the headlights?"

"Shut it." Sheldon finally said, hoping his former friend really would now.

But no, Raj had to make another statement. "I think it's great and very romantic, that you would finally express your love-"

"Last warning. I see a strike coming."

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to your lovely girlfriend. So Amy, how 'hot' did things get between you and that egocentric moron, that for some unknown reason you love so much?"

'_Oh the things I could tell."_ Amy thought to herself, but she felt compelled to defend her sweet baboo's honor. "Well-" she began, only to get interrupted.

"If you tell _anyone_ _anything_, I'll give you a strike too." Sheldon warned her.

Naturally this annoyed her enormously, and with a stern face she looked at him and replied deadly calm: "And if you don't stop threatening me, _I'll _give _you_ a strike."

"Pfft. What's going to happen then?"

Sheldon wasn't worried at all by that obvious empty threat. He didn't exactly know what giving a strike to Amy would mean either, but he was an expert in these things, unlike her. So he was sure he had nothing _whatsoever_ to worry about.

"Think more about, what _won't _be happening for a long time." she said to him in a low voice.

He just stared at her simply dumbfounded. He knew instantly what she was getting at and he didn't like that. How could he possibly get out of this without showing everyone that he was so easy to manipulate. With sex of all things… or sex-like activities at least, since they didn't "do the deed". It didn't help that apparently his enemy in the front seat had the time of his life as he saw Raj grinning maliciously at him.

After a few conflicted moments, Sheldon finally turned to Raj. "After reconsideration, it's not acceptable to forbid ones girlfriend to say whatever she pleases. We do live in a free country after all, and Sheldon Cooper is nothing but a supporter of equal rights. So Amy, please feel free to say _anything_ you want."

Raj continued to smile. "You're so full of it... So Amy, care to share any juicy details?"

Amy was still annoyed as she looked at Sheldon gazing pleadingly with her. However, when she turned and saw Raj's smiling face, she understood exactly why Sheldon wouldn't want anyone, especially his friends, to know their intimate details. No matter how angry she was with her boyfriend, she wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

"No. I have nothing to say."

"That's my girl." Sheldon said relieved and to make sure she knew how much, he took her hand in his and squeezed it a bit.

"That's so boring." Raj said disappointed.

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Howard and Bernadette's apartment, 7.48 PM<em>

Howard felt better after the long nap he took this afternoon and because things between him and his wife were good again.

They had a lot of fun watching the show and they laughed about their stupid fight about it. She teased him badly whenever "Starbuck" showed up, and he knew, he deserved it.

But now he had to make some more amends. However, as annoyed as he was by Stuart, he couldn't deny the fact that he owed the man an apology.

Howard dialed the number to his house and was relieved to have him answer. "Stuart? Hi, it's Howard."

"Oh… Hello." He could hear the slightly frosty tone in Stuart's voice and felt his guilt skyrocket.

"Listen, I'm calling to apologize. I was completely out of line yesterday to everybody, but especially to you."

"Well. It was an... um... interesting evening."

As Howard thought about yesterday's events, embarrassing images popped up. The fuzzier they got, the more terrified he felt. After a few moments of silence, he knew he needed to suck it up. "I'm really sorry. Was Jeanie very mad?"

"Not at me, but you should call her and apologize to her as well, and maybe also to the rest of your family."

Howard felt mortified by the idea of having to face his family again. By now most likely every single person of the extended Wolowitz family knew about his horrendous performance.

"I will." He said, and after a more seconds he asked: "So, we're good?"

Luckily for Howard, Stuart wasn't one who held grudges for too long, and was relieved he heard him answer: "Yes, we're good."

"Thank you... And I'm okay with you and Jeanie. I hope it works out."

Howard knew how lucky he was to have Bernadette, but also knew that sometimes he forgot that others didn't have the same luck. It was then when he remembered the most horrifying detail of last night: "Ohhh… um… Stuart?"

"Yes?"

"I'm also sorry for the kiss… _Very_ sorry." He said embarrassed and sincerely hoped that they will never speak of it again.

"Hey, at least I got one. And it wasn't even the worst of my life."

"That's something... I guess."

* * *

><p><em>Pasadena, Penny's apartment, 10.33 PM<em>

A few minutes ago, Leonard received a text from Sheldon that they're expected to arrive home in about an hour and ordered him to be out of the apartment for tonight. He was curious as to why, but who knew what was currently going on in his nutty best buddy's brain?

He didn't mind of course and he let himself into his fiancée's place. As he walked over to the bedroom, he heard the shower running and something so lovely, that all he could do was to sit down on the bed and listen.

_"Oh, darling, when you're near me_

_And you tenderly call my name_

_I know that my emotions_

_Are something I just can't tame_

_I've just got to have you, baby_

_I feel the earth move under my feet_

_I feel the sky tumbling down, tumbling down_

_I feel the earth move under my feet_

_I feel the sky tumbling down_

_I just lose control_

_Down to my very soul_

_I get a hot and cold all over_

_I feel the earth move under my feet_

_I feel the sky tumbling down,_

_Tumbling down, tumbling down..."_

She truly couldn't hold a tune, he thought, but nevertheless it was the cutest thing he _ever_ heard. Suddenly, a thought came to him. He hoped that she didn't think it was too crazy, but for him it was perfect.

The shower got turned off and after a few moments Penny came out. When she saw him, she looked mortified. "Leonard! How long are you sitting there?!"

"A few minutes." He said, and grinned at her.

"Oh noooo. That's _so_ embarrassing!" She cried out as she sat next to him.

"It's not..." He began to say, but added after a moment: "But it's a good thing that you chose to sing only under your shower."

"'Funny'. I usually just do that when I'm alone. Why are you even here?"

"Sheldon kicked me out."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Nothing! He just texted me that he wants the place to himself."

Leonard didn't want to talk about his roommate anymore. He had much more important things to talk about. "Did you think of me?" He asked her, and smiled a bit sheepishly.

"Of course I did. You rock my world after all." She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. When she moved her lips to his ear, it sent delightful tingling waves through Leonard.

'_If there was a moment to ask"_ Leonard thought._ "This was it before his other brain took over.'_

Steadying himself with a breath, he pressed forward. "Penny?" he whispered, as she nibbled on his earlobe.

"Yeah?" she whispered back.

"Let's get married." His nerves were all over the place when she stopped her endearment and sat straight up to look at him.

"We're already engaged. Did you forget that?" Penny asked a bit confused.

"No. I mean, let's get married _now_."

"It's Sunday evening. _What_ are you talking about?"

"Let's get to City Hall first thing in the morning, and get a marriage license. There is no waiting period in California and if we're lucky someone will marry us right there. We can have a big wedding celebration whenever you want to, but I want to be married to you. _Now_."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Don't you want to?"

"I do... But what about... I mean, we don't even live together really. And should we tell our parents? They will be pissed, if we get married without them."

"Well, _your_ parents maybe. What I mean is that nothing has to change. I still move out gradually. We can tell our parents or not. We tell the others of course, because let's face it, it's impossible to keep anything a secret here... thanks to you mostly. Besides, they're my real family. So what do you say?"

Penny was warming up to the idea. "But wait! I need to get a nice dress first." She declared.

"No, you don't. You have lots of nice dresses. You can get a fancy big white one for the _'official' _wedding. Let's just go to the City Hall, as we are."

As Penny looked at Leonard, every doubt she might have had vanished. "Okay." She said before she smiled and pulled him close for a tight embrace.

"Okay?"

"Yes. Okay."

"I love you."

"And I love you."

* * *

><p><em>Sheldon and Leonard's Apartment, 11.49 PM<em>

Sheldon and Amy just reached the fourth floor, but she continued to debate Sheldon's idea. Yes, they had a fantastic weekend, but she didn't have any clothes for the next day and she was tired. Another sleepless night would make the next week hard to get through.

"Do you really think I should stay here tonight?" she asked her boyfriend as he fumbled in his pocket for the keys.

"For the tenth time, I _really_ think you should. Leonard will be over at Penny's, so we will be alone."

He turned around and offered her a seductive and he hoped a reassuring smile. She felt weak in her knees instantly as he pushed the door open and wrapped his arms around her before they stumbled into the apartment in a passionate embrace.

"Ahem."

"Woo Hoo!"

They let go of each other immediately and Sheldon threw a nasty look at his roommate. "What are you doing here!? I told you to get-"

"We waited for you." Leonard cut him short and couldn't get rid of his very amused grin on his face.

Sheldon was less then amused by this uncalled for intrusion, but he figured that it was just like his best friend to care so much.

"You were worried about me. I'm touched, but we're here now safe and sound, so you need to leave _now_."

"There's something we want to tell you." Penny said, equally amused and beyond curious. If she wouldn't have had her own big news to share, she would have dragged Amy to her place right away and squeezed every detail out of her.

"Can't it wait?" Sheldon whined.

"No, it can't wait. Please sit down." Leonard answered and motioned Sheldon and Amy to sit down.

"All right. We're all ears. What is it that cannot wait until morning?"

"Leonard and I decided to get married." Penny exclaimed as she beamed as bright as the sun could at her soon to be husband.

"We know that." Sheldon answered less than excited about this unnecessary repeat of already known facts.

"No, we want to get married as soon as possible. Tomorrow we're going to City Hall and we want you two to be our witnesses."

Amy was mortified. She counted on being Penny's maid of honor with a fancy dress at a huge wedding celebration where everyone would look at her and adore her. Now they were taking that away from her… _again?!_

"Why the rush?" she asked. "Wouldn't you prefer a real wedding with a cake and most importantly a maid of honor?"

Penny knew instantly what her best friend was getting at. "Don't worry Amy. We will have a real official wedding later. This is just for us."

_'YAY! She was getting her special day! This weekend couldn't get any better!'_ Amy thought before she put her game face back on. "What about the others? Will they be there too?" she asked.

"No." Leonard answered. "We want this to be low-key. When they come over tomorrow for dinner, we will tell them."

"Yeah." Penny chimed in. "We just want you to be there. You're our best friends and we wouldn't want to do this without you."

"Awww! That's so wonderful!" Amy replied smiling bright now. "Don't you think, Sheldon?"

"Yes wonderful. Congratulations." Sheldon offered halfheartedly and stood up. He grabbed Leonard's arm and dragged him to the door. "But you need to leave now. Chop, chop."

"Okay, okay." Leonard said as he freed himself from his best friend's surprisingly firm grip.

Sheldon happily watched Leonard walking out of the door and over to apartment 4B, but when he turned around he noticed to his frustration that Amy and Penny were hugging and they didn't look like they would be done soon.

'_She should have been hugging _me_ for at least ten minutes now!'_, he thought annoyed before he walked to the women. "Can we wrap this up here now?"

"Fine, Sheldon, I'm leaving." Penny said.

Sheldon watched in relief as she walked passed him towards the door.

"By the way, Ames, I still want details on this weekend."

"Of course, Bestie. Good night!"

"Good night to you too." Penny replied and closed the door with a wink.

"Finally! These people really can't take a hint... And _why_ are you still standing there? Chop, chop."

And with that he pushed an already very excited Amy towards his bedroom.

**The End**

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my take on this challenge. I would love to know what you think. :)<br>**

**A huge thank you to mphs95 for helping me so much with this chapter! **


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